I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 226 Ridiculous and Terrifying Free City

Amsterdam, what a beautiful place, it is so young, compared with other cities, it can only be traced back to the thirteenth century; it is so great, because in just four hundred years, it is already the Netherlands, and even The largest city in the entire lowland region, it has the busiest port of this era, hundreds of shipyards, and the world's first stock exchange, and money flows freely day and night like a tide in the hands of tens of thousands of merchants. ; It is especially worth mentioning that this city, which is plated with gold, has no king, no government, and no one dares to threaten the existence of the Dutch. They are indulged in the arms of capital all day long, thinking that Money can buy everything, everything, including the ambitions of kings.

They think so, and it is understandable. After all, half of the merchant ships that were swimming on the sea at that time were Dutch. The annual dividend income of the Netherlands from the stock exchange was worth 25 million guilders, equivalent to 200 tons of silver. Both the dukes and the dukes need to borrow from them, as long as they want, they can fill the empty treasury of the kings and emperors of the whole Europa country at any time... This makes all the Dutch people proud, they are completely unaware that the fatter a sheep, the more It is easy to be a delicious meal in the mouth of a lion.

They didn't realize that, with the exception of William III, perhaps because of his long-standing exclusion from Parliament as the center of power, or because he had always looked at Holland as a monarch, not a merchant, 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, there were originally only 20,000 people, and the army that is still being weakened is just a fragile paper wall in front of France. The fact While raising money to recruit troops, he is 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, all of which are trying to provoke other countries' fear of France, and then curb France's opposition to France. Holland's conquest, although the Netherlands will suffer serious losses, at least they can get a chance to breathe.

It was only the perfidy (and rightfully so, for a monarch) behavior of Charles II, pushed by Louis, that left William III condescending to be a distinguished guest at the Tower of London throughout the tense moment, and no one knew Where he went, maybe someone knows, but it is ridiculous that William III's dealings with Charles II will make him untrustworthy in the hearts of the Dutch, to be precise, since he is still underage, guardianship When Quan Chuchu passed from the hands of his deceased mother to the parliament, the British people around him were all driven away (even if he fought and begged) to see that - so even if they knew vaguely, they dared not go Interrogating Charles II and the British can only inquire in secret.

   But time is running out for them.

As the French army approached, the atmosphere in Amsterdam became more and more sinister. The city had no roads, only rivers and bridges, and people were connected by swift boats, Amsterdam's boats and Venice's gondolas. Different, plain and bleak, those who walked off these ships were not only well-dressed puritans, but also luxurious and graceful ladies, scholars with snow-white temples, and young people with muskets. Cloak, leaving the house or entering the house, but in the past they were talking about business, but now they are talking about rumors.

Rumors are never unfettered in this city, and parliamentarians also use this despicable but effective means to fight their political enemies - of course, for a free city, a free country should be like this, just as people admire Like the philosophers of ancient Greece, when faced with a disaster, people do not want to solve the disaster, but can't wait to find a scapegoat - usually their enemy, the malice and anger brewing in the suffering people. All went towards him. The most ridiculous thing is that people are usually appeased by this method, as if tearing the scapegoat, the disaster will suddenly disappear miraculously one morning.

It is not known whether they were consciously developed such a way of thinking, but it is indeed a very useful weapon, John de Witt, the Prime Minister and his brother used this weapon and used it They have killed countless political opponents, including even the descendants and heirs of William Orange, the founder of the Dutch Republic. They should also think that one day, this double-edged sword will fall on their heads.

While Mr. Prime Minister is still busy with those diplomatic tactics that can be placed in the public eye, as well as those ulterior conspiracies, the Duke of La Rochefoucault, who was once a slinger and is extremely skilled in incitement and bewitching, has completed. After a whole set of performances - just like in front of Mrs. Van Schulman, he first appeared calm in front of the Dutch, and when they were worried about the final payment, or really had some kind of friendship for him, When persuading him to leave Amsterdam as soon as possible, he always showed an air of indifference. When people's curiosity was about to overflow, he said casually after a drunkenness that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands had already been with him. Their majesty made a deal.

After that, maybe only a day or two later, before the Dutchman's anger burned on him, he suddenly made a panic and annoyed gesture, and hurriedly packed his bags and was about to leave. Attention, they managed to steal the duke's letterbox from his room, in which they found, as they wished, a letter from the Duchess of Longueville to the Duke of La Rochefoucault - about the lovebirds' affair , Even the Dutch are familiar with it. After all, Madame Longueville's first son is likely to be the Duke of La Rochefoucault. The undisputed heir of the Duke at the time not only did not inherit his father's title and property, but instead The name of Abe de Orleans became a clergy thing, but it was a sensation - under the restrictions of the primogeniture law, only the first son or the second unloved son would do so, and the eldest son of the Duchess did so. Doing this makes people feel regretful and sigh, and they can't help but speculate that maybe the eldest son is also certain of his own life experience and can't bear the torture of his own virtue and conscience, so he will do this.

Although the Duchess of Longueville had made a mistake in the slinger movement, she should really be thankful that she also had a brave and fighting brother, a tolerant and kind king, and she returned to the court very early, although she did not know whether she still Maintaining the previous relationship with the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, but such a lady, 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 French king had indeed made a deal with the Dutch Prime Minister Johan de Witte, but also pointed out that the Dutch Prime Minister had not only betrayed his people, but also Betraying the French king, he accepted a bribe from the Habsburgs to sell Holland to Brandenburg.

Here I have to admire the skill of the Duke of La Rochefoucault. He knows very well that people have never dismissed things that are easily obtained, but they are convinced of what they have managed to get, and as a French Man, his blunt point of the Dutch Prime Minister's dealings with Brandenburg might lead to suspicions that he was sowing discord, and he made a gesture of victory at first to convince people that Amsterdam was in the hands of the French king, and then hurriedly Leaving (or escaping) proves from another side that the Dutch Prime Minister sold Amsterdam to the enemy of France... That's why he lost his original calm and peace of mind - when he handed over the ship, he sighed even more , hesitant to speak, made a lot of things I know, 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 his letter to Madame van Schulmann, he was going to be a little more blunt, urging her to return to her natal home in Cologne as soon as possible—with everything she thought was of value, he said without hesitation, here It is about to become a battleground between Habsburgs and Bourbons.

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

  These rumours are like ink dripping in water, and they spread rapidly among all classes. To say, Mr. Prime Minister, and his younger brother, who is also a member of parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer, are aware of this? Yes, they realized it, but they only felt that this was just another attack on them by political opponents. While they sent their subordinates to argue or counterattack in the newspapers, they were still busy bargaining with various envoys - this is difficult, King of France. Louis XIV was not unprepared. How could it take 120,000 people to destroy the Dutch army of only 20,000 people on land? These are the preparations that Louis XIV made to fight another alliance, like the bared fangs of a lion, even if it was Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick, Archduke 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 out of Holland.

Until the people of Amsterdam rushed into the city hall and into the Prime Minister's room, the Prime Minister and his younger brother still couldn't react - how comfortable they were when picking a scapegoat, how wrong they are now - they are too high in position For a long time, they have long forgotten that they are also mortals. They can choose a person to sacrifice at will, and even use it as a means to get rid of their political enemies. Of course others can too.

They couldn't even refute the charges before them - Amsterdam's treasury was indeed almost dry, because the Prime Minister not only allocated a large sum of money to those dark wizards, but also the money used to bribe important people from various countries. Extracted - either out of selfishness, or out of fear of the dictator's name, John de Witte didn't use his family's money, but the last thing he should have is that his brother, Mr. Witte Jr., actually He also took the opportunity to make a lot of money and made a considerable amount of national disaster wealth, all of which were exposed by the handler.

Mr. Prime Minister looked at the angry and hideous faces, and found that he could not say a word. At this time, even if he admitted that he had colluded with the wizards, it was useless. The wizards would not leave him a note, and the French The King Louis XIV was still sitting in his imperial tent, and he had frequent exchanges with envoys. In the era of no audio and video, who can prove that he was saving the Netherlands rather than betraying the Netherlands? Moreover, he does have some secret transactions with these people in private. He may need to consider his own family, especially the Netherlands, after this battle, will inevitably have a period of low, to ensure that his current position is still firm, He could be forgiven for making some small concessions.

But no one will listen to his explanation now. If it was a month ago, it might still be possible, but during the time when the rumors were fermenting, Louis did not do anything. The Duke of La Roche Foucault brought back the ship. After that, he immediately issued an edict that no longer allowed French merchants to trade with the Netherlands, or have any financial transactions, and the biggest source of profits for Dutch merchants was immediately cut off. The artisans or clerks were fired, and countless people suddenly lost their original, if not huge, but abundant income. Stocks on the stock exchange fell like a flood, and almost every day there were people He committed suicide because his property suddenly became worthless.

Just 63 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 still 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 has done, the rumors are still somewhat true, and they should try their best to maintain the authority of the government, even if they wait until the disaster is over and then liquidate, but ordinary people are completely Trapped in a frenzy of fear and anxiety, the MPs who could have stopped them also indulged and even fueled it because of their own plans - Witte has been in the Prime Minister and the Chancellor for too long, they all say so; There may be one or two rational people among them, but they are like wreckage wrapped in a flood, and it is good enough to keep themselves from being shattered, let alone doing something for others.

   (end of this chapter)