By the time Monsieur Lom received the king's reply, Louis had already left Paris, and this expedition was seen off by only a few people compared to his first expedition, which is not to say that the king's prestige was diminishing, but on the contrary, the victory of Flanders had made the king no longer need the exaggerated and vain superfluous acts, and he was sent off by royal ladies and available ministers. The judges, headed by Colbert, who had been despised by numerous dignitaries and dignitaries, had gained the trust of the king only because he had no surname or family, and had gained the trust of the king as a mere chauffeur merchant, and won the title of duchess for his three daughters.

But it was for this reason that the king was willing to let him assist the Queen Mother and the Queen, and to supervise Paris and all of France for him, and no one could understand better than Colbert that without Louis, he was nothing—he was not even a clergyman.

This expedition was smoother and more relaxed than the first, firstly, because the king had established his authority, and secondly, the Marquis of Loiss had established logistical transport channels and military warehouses with the help of his father and father-in-law, which were like connected veins, constantly replenishing the behemoth with abundant provisions. As on the previous occasion, the king brought with him nearly 30,000 new troops from Paris and Versailles, as well as paramedics and workers, as well as soldiers along the way, who were too realistic.

When the king went to Flanders, they were just performing their duties as "knights" according to tradition, and now, they can be said to be a group of shrewd businessmen, when they found out that the king's stock was about to rise sharply, they immediately increased their investment, some people said that they were bankrupt for this reason, but the return was undoubtedly unusually rich, unlike the furry Flanders, the Netherlands was a city of gold, and the East and West Indian companies brought tens of millions of huge profits to their investors every year- Not to mention the Dutch businessmen who run the two companies.

Of course, a piece of fatty meat always attracts a lot of greedy eyes, especially since the Dutch have almost monopolized all the trade in cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, silver from Japan, spices, gold and copper from Indonesia, tea and porcelain from China, silk from China, and cotton from India since 1658...... These are all Dutch...... The West India Company was founded later than the East India Company, but its expansion was no less powerful than that of any old colonial power, because its main cargo was slaves. They had fought with the Portuguese for Brazil, the British for Manhattan, with the Spaniards for the islands of the Caribbean, and with the French for Sint Maarten, and everywhere they went, they plundered the natives and sold them to slave owners on sugar plantations, who naturally squeezed out of these dark-skinned savages the gold of white flowers—another valuable and in-demand commodity—sugar.

If the king can conquer the Netherlands, then it will be theirs!

Louis repeatedly looked at the letter from Charles II to him in the carriage, in the letter, Charles II carefully considered his tone, assuring that it was neither too flattering nor too arrogant, he also understood that his request was a bit excessive, but it was not for no reason, Louis could understand, after all, England and France have been enemies for hundreds of years, although they are now allies and in-laws, but maybe in his and Charles II's time, a new war will break out between England and France, and when the time comes, William III's territory will indeed become a good buffer zone, but, Charles II may also have thought that when the time comesIf William III was willing to lean toward England, then France would have fallen behind here.

"What do you think?" Louis handed the letter to Philip, who was sitting with him.

Philip read the letter, and then ran over the map of the Lowlands in his mind, "It's just whimsical. He said: "I doubt what role the British could play in this war, for three years ago the Dutch ships went straight into the Thames and the artillery entered London, and it was said that no Englishman could stop Michel Adrianson de Leut." ”

"Then how do you suppose Charles II dared to put forward such a condition?"

"Again, brother," said Philip, "you said that you would always be on God's side." "The divine right of kings, Charles I's public beheading, so to speak, is a vicious and comical beginning for all the kings of Europa, Louis was the first to notice, there is Charles I, of course there can be Carlos II, Leopold I, or Louis XIV - so Louis will never support any traitor, the problem is that while supporting Charles II, he must also contain the development of England, lest it become a thorny enemy, otherwise he will become an unprecedented joke.

"Actually," said Louis, as he lifted the curtain and glanced out, "Philippe, I originally wanted you to be the governor of the Netherlands." ”

"Huh?" said Philip, pouting dissatisfiedly, for though he was twenty-eight years old, and had not only a daughter, but also the father of an unborn child, he was still a little cute, "I don't even want to stay in Orleans." He said sincerely, "Don't try to send me away, wherever you go, I always want a room, and it's better not to be too far away from you." ”

"Then be the closest to me," Louis said jokingly, "and I will order Teresa to give up her room." ”

"I do, but my mother will definitely slap me," said Philip, "and she would like you and the queen to have more children." All I need to do is be ahead of your ministers or clergy. ”

"I swear I will. Louis said, the two brothers laughing at each other, the conversation seemed like a joke, but it was also somewhat true—Philippe was always the closest to Louis—"And what do you think about me making Viscount Tyrrenne the Governor of the Netherlands?"

Philip blinked, and after a few seconds, he showed a bright smile: "Good choice, brother, it doesn't get much better than this!"

The Viscount of Tirrenne, who was still busy cleaning up and pacifying the Flanders region, did not know that he had been arranged by the unscrupulous king and his brother Duke of Orleans for the next twenty years.

Of course, the Viscount of Tyrrenne is not called Tyrenne, his name is Henri de Latour Auvergne, he is the child of the Auvergne family, the second son of the Duke of Sedan, and later because the Duke of Sedan participated in the rebellion against Cardinal Richelieu, the Dukedom of Sedan was withdrawn, and his identity became a little embarrassing- However, he did have great military talent, and at the age of twelve he was sent to his uncle, Prince Maurice of Nassau, to study and join the army, and at the age of nineteen he returned to China, but then continued to serve his uncle for five years, and only returned to France at the age of 35.

This is the reason why Louis made Viscount Tyrrenne the Viceroy of the Netherlands, and his mother was none other than William I, the daughter of William Orange. In the Netherlands, Prince Maurice, the second son of Wilhelm I and the younger brother of Wilhelm II, not only became the Dutch ruler, formed the Dutch standing army, but also defeated the Spaniards more than once, for the Dutch, Prince Maurice's reputation was even better than that of Wilhelm II, and even more so, because Prince Maurice was not married and had no children in the orthodox sense, so most of his political legacy was inherited by Wilhelm II.

And the existence of Viscount Tyrrenne has become very subtle, he has been by Prince Maurice's side for more than ten years from the age of twelve, to twenty-four, he is Maurice's best student, the dearest nephew, many people around Prince Maurice, have seen and remembered this young officer, although he is a Frenchman, but the other half of his blood belongs to the Orange family, compared to William III, who has always been guarded by the Dutch Parliament and only showed his talent a few years ago, which side will the Dutch lean? Not to mention Louie, even Philip couldn't help but be curious.

William III, it can only be said that he was ruined by his own credulity and recklessness, of course, you can also say that he was forced to do so, after all, the prime minister and parliament were wary of him, he was able to get not much support from the Netherlands, when France had conquered the Flanders and pointed directly at the Netherlands, the descendant of Orange, who had always regarded the Netherlands as the crown in his hand, desperately needed a sum of money to recruit soldiers and raise armaments to confront Louis XIV's army of 100,000. Stuart owed the Orange family nearly three million guilders, even if it was only a tenth, enough for William III to make a fortune......

And Charles II managed to take advantage of this weakness by tricking him into going to Whitehall House in London and locking him up.

By the time the Netherlands was finally divided between England and France, even if William III returned to the Netherlands and owned Utrecht, his image in the hearts of the Dutch people would have collapsed irretrievably, after all, in their most painful time, the heir of Orange did not appear in time to turn the tide.

Then, as long as Viscount Tyrrenne can completely carry out the king's orders, control half of the Netherlands, and even continue to swallow and encroach, it may not be a difficult thing...... After all, Louis and his ministers, their goal was not to destroy the Netherlands completely - they wanted the golden egg, and they also wanted the chicken that could lay the golden egg.

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If the Netherlands is a chicken that can lay golden eggs, then the biggest golden egg is definitely Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was originally a small fishing village, and like many port cities that developed from fishing villages, it benefited from the rapid development of the Age of Discovery, and its name, like Dunkirk, comes from the location of the Amstel River, and the village is located at its mouth, and Dan, which means dam in the Low Languages, because it is located on a dam.

It was once unknown, but now it is the largest city and capital of the Netherlands.

The town hall is located in the center of Amsterdam, on the west side of Dam Square, and its foundation is made of stone, but under these stones is supported by more than 10,000 wooden piles, which are about thirty feet deep into the ground, and everyone who watches it is built can't help but be dumbfounded- The exterior of this sprawling building is neat and square, and the color is single and calm, which is in line with the Dutch imagination of political architecture, but the interior is extremely ornate and elegant, with crimson brocade and walnut wainscoting, gilded lamps and exquisite oil paintings, and the officials who walk here all have an arrogant and reserved look, like fat geese.

Quite different from these officials was their Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Netherlands, and arguably the uncrowned King of the Netherlands, Johann de Witt.

Born in 23, he became Speaker at the age of 30 during the first period of ingovernment, and as a leader, he ended the First Anglo-Dutch War, admitted defeat, accepted the navigation law proposed by Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of Great Britain, and secretly promised the so-called "Delisting Clause", that is, a guarantee that Orange III would never be elected as the consul and supreme commander. In other words, like the friendship between Louis XIV and Charles II, these two can also be said to have been sympathetic to each other for a long time in containing royal power.

But this is not to say that he will kill William III, kill William Orange's descendants. Or even if he were to do it, he wouldn't use such a despicable and stupid method.

The problem is that there are not many people who believe that William III's disappearance has nothing to do with the Prime Minister, and even his younger brother is suspicious.

If it were just civilians, or even members of parliament, well, even if it was 10,000 steps back, those supporters of Orange, that is, the Dutch royalists, known as the Orange Belt, thought that it was he who imprisoned and even killed William III, and it was not without argument or prevarication, but he was about to face the most difficult person to deal with, and that person was none other than the "terrorist" who made the British tremble, the supreme commander of the Dutch navy, Michel Adriansson de Leut.

The general was born in 07 and is an old man in his sixties, but when he walks briskly in the corridor, he is still like a multi-masted ship equipped with iron ramming, and people have avoided him, and saluted or bowed to him, compared to the prime minister who started playing politics, this old man who has been at sea for more than 40 years, from a merchant captain to an admiral, is undoubtedly more worthy of respect.

And this general is probably the last person Mr. Prime Minister wants to see right now.

"Where's Wilhelm III?" was the first thing General Reut said when he entered the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister sighed and raised his hand to cover his face.