This is where Charles II hesitated, and according to the current situation, his ministers might prefer to make peace with the Dutch, because Charles II's court had many Protestants, and they were naturally inclined to the Dutch Protestants, and England and the Netherlands may only be competing for wealth, but when it comes to faith, they are jointly aimed at the Catholics. Charles II's faith was also entirely motivated by the desire to inherit the throne, and if not for the throne, he preferred the Catholic Church, not because the Roman Church was less greedy, but because the Roman Church had always claimed the right of heaven would undoubtedly win the favor of any king.

Therefore, the emissary from the Prime Minister of the Netherlands could have calmly gone to the political enemies of Charles II, but he had to toss and turn here, suffering the disappointment and contempt of his nephew.

"I'm not sure, Henrietta, it's an important thing. "Although Henrietta was right, of course, if an alliance with the Netherlands was made to extinguish French ambitions in infancy, the English would have rejoiced, but for Charles II, his situation would only get worse, and if so, William III of the Netherlands might not be much better, after all, between the crown and the courtiers, you have always been the one who has grown - Prime Minister John de Witt and his brothers were as wary of a dictatorship as a pair of rats nesting near a cat's nest, and if they were to gain power, William III would have been exiled or placed under house arrest somewhere, dying a silent death.

Charles II's expression was unpredictable, and Henrietta saw it, she was both the sister of the King of England and the wife of the Duke of France, standing between the two countries, and of course she would hope that England and France would make a peace treaty, so that she would not have to be torn between them, the brave lady took a deep breath, pulled out a rolled silk silk from her chest, and spread it out on Charles II's knees, and Charles II's eyes were immediately drawn to it, because it was the map of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is in fact an abbreviation, in fact its name should be the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, but here, let's just say so, the map on Charles II's lap is a combination of the topographical history discovered by spies and wizards, the latest map drawn, not only the Dutch provinces, but also the areas bordering it, and the North Sea it faces, the map is not only accurate, but also colored, so at a glance, Charles II's eyes suddenly can't take his eyes off, although there is also a map hanging in his study, but with the blue sea and the orange Europa land against the backgroundto see how blessed the Netherlands is - a long and winding coastline, a vast inland sea, with the Holy Roman Empire behind it, Denmark above, and the Flanders region below, which is now occupied by France, it is like a ripe star fruit, which hangs heavily on the heart of Charles II, and it is nonsense to say that Louis's proposal did not move him, and he can even objectively and rationally say that England should unite with France, and England lost Dunkirk - It was not his fault, although people were accusing him of not selling Dunkirk for a few tens of thousands of gold louis, but why didn't they look at it, there were tens of thousands of French soldiers stationed in Dunkirkry at that time, and the British soldiers who stayed there were all traitors of Cromwell, and they didn't even dare to return to England, so how could they fight for Britain?

Charles II was justified in that decision, and he is still the same, and he was embarrassed that the parliament would certainly oppose it—they had always feared his dealings with Louis XIV, because they knew very well that Louis XIV was probably the ruler who most valued the authority of the king, and some Protestants even angrily said that the king regarded himself not only as the ruler of the state, but also as a saint, and that he openly took the title of a pagan god on himself, and was proud of it.

But Charles II knew that they were only jealous, and like him, Louis XIV did not arouse the disgust of the people, but made them admire and worship him even more, it is said that not long ago, Louis XIV also entertained thousands of guests in his new palace Versailles, it is said that whether it is a province or a Parisian, or a Versailles, as long as they go to the king's new palace, they can get the hospitality corresponding to their status, they feast and drink, watch wonderful plays, and enjoy the fireworks that lasted for half a night- The Protestants were of course indignant about their frugality, but Charles II longed in his heart that he too would have that day.

"What did Louie tell you?"

Henrietta smiled touchingly, "There are seven provinces in the Netherlands," she said simply, "Your Majesty is willing to give you two." ”

Charles II pursed his lips, to say, Britain had failed in the two previous naval wars with the Netherlands, even if the Duke of York was willing to follow his orders and lead the army, it was just to entangle the Dutch navy, only the French army really wanted to attack the city and plunder the land, Louis's promise was not ungenerous, Charles II's finger swiped around the map, the land of the Netherlands was like a leaf, of which the two provinces of the Netherlands and Zeeland were on the edge of the North Sea, the coastline meandered on their west side, Utrecht was located in the center of the provinces, but it was the most important city in the north, FrieslandGroningen is located above the Netherlands, bordering Denmark, and Oberethel and Gelderland are closely connected to the Holy Roman Empire, and Louis is willing to give Charles II three provinces—which two provinces will be, and one of them must be Holland or Zeeland," Charles II thought.

Then there is Utrecht, although Utrecht is not close to the sea, but it is the transit point of the Amsterdam-Rhine, without Utrecht, the development of Amsterdam will also be curbed, Charles II is not sure whether Louis will hand over Utrecht to him, but he does not want to go to Ethel and Gelderland, he does not want to directly face the Holy Roman Empire, it is not an exaggeration to say that if Leopold I makes a desperate decision to recapture the Netherlands, then these two large provinces will inevitably fall into endless war, but in this way, there is not much room left for Charles II, then it is one of Friesland and GroningenThere was no doubt that Friesland was better than Groningen, which was separated from the Holy Roman Empire by only one estuary of the Em, but in this way he had taken almost all the benefits, and then he had to take into account the development of France and England.

There is no doubt that if his ministers were to see it, if there was Zeeland, or Holland, and one of the great provinces mentioned above, they would definitely be willing, England is a huge island, and what they need most is a place on the continent of Europa—Dunkirk is their last stronghold, but the damned traitor has lost it, Charles II rebuked with a clear conscience, and then he bowed his head: "So be it, Henrietta," he said, "if he will give me three provinces, I will consider the matter." ”

Henrietta was really taken aback, in fact, Britain had not much to pay in this alliance, after all, the war between England and the Netherlands had hardly stopped, and they could say that they only took the price they had to pay in exchange for more benefits, and she couldn't help frowning and letting out a lament.

"I'm not all for England, for myself," said Charles II hurriedly, "I just want you to know that Henrietta, the third province I want, is for our little William." ”

"Little William?"

"William III of the Netherlands," said Charles II patiently, "I need Zeeland, or Holland, and then Utrecht, and then, whatever Louis would arrange, if he wanted Holland he would take Friesland, and if he wanted Zeelland, then take Gelderland, and Utrecht, we would leave it to William III, so that there would be a natural band between England and France, so that at least as long as Louis and I were in power, we would have a precious friendship." ”

Henrietta glanced at Charles II, although she was only a princess, but she was not a fool in the court, she could certainly see the intentions of Charles II, Charles II was once the only person that William III could rely on, if it were not for the intervention of this merry king, William III was afraid that he would still be detained in the hands of his aunt and uncle, and nothing could be achieved - although what Charles II did afterwards can also be said to have betrayed him, but at that time, there was only one king of Utrecht, who else could he ask for help? It could not be Louis XIV or the Holy Roman Emperor who was disgusted with the House of Orange, Charles V was the ancestor of Leopold I, and Leopold I was afraid that he would not have much patience with William Orange, who betrayed the emperor's trust.

If William III could only rely on Charles II, then Charles II would also have three provinces in the Netherlands, and with William III's buffer, England would have been spared a possible or necessary conflict with France before establishing a foothold.

"I will bring your words back to Your Majesty. Henrietta said with mixed feelings, and she hastily put away the silk map, and got up from the carpet in front of Charles II's lap, and Charles II, too, realized that he had put Princess Henrietta in an awkward position, and as if to apologize, he personally took the cloak that the Duchess of Orleans had placed on her chair, and put it on her with gratitude, and then personally sent her out of the room— It could only go so far, the court was full of eyes and ears, and it would not be a good thing for her or for Charles II to let anyone know that Princess Henrietta had returned to London.

Princess Henrietta had fulfilled her mission, and was only able to stay in London for one day and two nights, and the next day she saw from the little building she had borrowed that the Duke of York was on his way to Whitehall House, and soon afterwards he left the palace again, and the King's messenger came to Henrietta and gave her a note with the familiar handwriting, telling her to come back to the palace to-night.

Henrietta had to come to the king's residence for the second time, this palace was completely foreign to her, she left London when she was a baby, and came to Paris at the age of three, so at the beginning, she really wanted to marry Louis XIV, because for her, the Louvre was her home, and even if she finally became the Duchess of Orleans, she could not help but feel a moment of contentment, and the Whitehall Palace made her frightened, especially when she thought that it was from here that her father was dragged out by the mob, thrown into prison, and then beheaded。

Charles II was waiting for Henrietta in his original room, and as soon as he saw Henrietta, he said impatiently: "I have convinced the Duke of York." He will do my will. ”

"You promised him?"

"Hmm. The Duke of York would not easily agree to this, and he had obtained not only the oath of Charles II (to God), but also the king's own handwriting—and it was no wonder that Charles II could not contain his anger and remorse, for the former Lord of the Navy, Earl of Clarendon, had been remarkably angry. Hyde was inclined to the king, but Charles II, considering that Hyde was old and could step down from the position of Admiral at any time, presided over the marriage of the Duke of York to Hyde's daughter Anne.

He thought that the Duke of York would not be another Gaston, if not the second Philip, who knows, maybe the Duke of York was willing to submit to the authority of the king and his brother at the beginning, but since Charles II provoked those Protestants and parliamentarians again and again, of course their minds will change, for example, they don't seem to mind changing kings, and Charles II has no children, if he has an accident, the Duke of York is the undisputed new king, and the ambition of the Duke of York may have been accumulated in this way in meetings, salons, or private meetings。

In response to his brother's request, not only did he not immediately stand on Charles II's side, but even strongly opposed it, if it were not for Charles II who came up with what he longed for the most...... Of course, he knew that Charles was dead, and he was the new king, but it was not impossible for Charles to have his own heir, and the queen was only thirty years old, but with canonization and paperwork, even if Charles II eventually had a son, the Duke of York still had a fight. 、

"I know it is a little dangerous for you to come here again," said Charles II, "but I must let you, Henrietta, tell Louis that, though my request may have been unexpected, I have shown more than ordinary sincerity. ”