Dunkirk is a well-known port city, with wide canals and aqueducts that connect it to the sea, its roads paved with small stones, and canals on both sides of the road, which are cleaner than other cities in France because of the introduction of seawater, but no matter how clean it is, the smell of the city at this time is always quite unsatisfactory.

As we said before, Dunkirk is like a helpless virgin, taken from place to place by robbers, and its ownership is always changing, so there are no pure French, no pure Flemishians, no pure Spaniards or English, and the people here don't care who they are, in short, whoever occupies this place is their master, especially those who have nothing, and some of them even have mercenaries who have taken off their shoulder straps and discarded their weapons- They crowded on both sides of the road, waiting excitedly, for the first time they set foot in the city, whether it was a king, a bishop, or a marshal, they would have a glorious ceremony to enter the city, and at the ceremony, they would throw coins in exchange for the cheers and submissions of the people.

It was the first ceremony the young king had ever undergone, and Louis naturally hoped for as perfection as possible, but he was equally stingy with the money he had spent needlessly to show his generosity, but Monsieur Bishop insisted that it was as a way of showing national power as the banquets and balls they had held in Paris, and was therefore indispensable, and the Viscount of Tirenne, who was primarily a general, also agreed, and they discussed for a long time the ratio of gold, silver, and bronze coins in the coins— The Bishop, by contrast, was not concerned about the King's worries about the soldiers' pensions and the subsequent medical expenses, as well as the veterans of the Battle of the Three Henries (note 1) who came to the Bishop to demand the arrears of money until the death of Louis XIII.

But in everything there is always a coming-and-going, and it was only before the war that Mr. Bishop intended to hand over his intelligence network to the king, who of course could not be stubborn on these matters, and they decided to arrange the ratio of gold, silver and bronze at 1:10:1000 Louis changed his course and asked Mr. Bishop if he could accompany him into Dunkirk with him, in addition to the indispensable figures such as Mr. Bishop, Viscount Tyrrenne and his penitent priest, Abbot La Rivière, as well as the musketeers, could arrange for some soldiers who had shown bravery in this battle to follow them behind their ranks?

This is not very in line with tradition, the bishop hesitated for a moment, but thinking that there were not many people in the court this time, after removing the Viscount of Tyrrenne and some of the priests headed by himself, the rest of the people were not of high status, since this was the case, he glanced at Viscount Tyrenne, Viscount Tyrenne started from an ordinary soldier in his uncle's army, and of course he had some understanding of the soldiers' thoughts, and he immediately agreed.

Then they were entangled in the twilight of whether the king rode into Dunkirk or in a carriage, whether he received the keys from the mayor in the square or in the town hall, and whether Marshal Don Juan of the Spaniards was entitled to sit at the king's head, and whether the Prince of Condé should be present or not, and so on, until dusk, and the king was not very concerned when he came to the second question, he wished to ride, but both the bishop and Monsieur Tyrrenne thought that he should ride in the carriage— From a safety point of view, a horse-drawn carriage is indeed more secure than a horse's back.

At this time, Louis was thinking about those soldiers, he remembered the red uniforms of the new model army, which was indeed very beautiful, and then he remembered the mottled and chaotic clothes of the French soldiers, the French army at this time did not provide uniform uniforms, from military uniforms to some equipment, the soldiers needed to prepare themselves, some of the guys who were good at planning were okay, and some of them couldn't remember at all before the end of the day, or for various reasons, the shy people in their pockets could only take what they wanted, and some were deceived by the hateful merchants, so it was difficult to blame them, the king asked Bontang to call Colbert, and then asked Colbert if he could do it in these days, that is, before the ceremony of entering the city, prepare a set of identical clothes for twenty-four soldiers?

The men's clothing at this time, the commoners used to wear shirts, coats, trousers, socks and shoes, and the nobles were more or less the same, except for the texture and decoration of the clothes, as well as some minor modifications, such as fat sleeves, lace on the cuffs and neckline, and embroidered garters, etc., but these were not what Louis wanted to see in the soldiers, he needed a warrior rather than an actor or a musician, and he made his request to Colbert, of course, as every time, although it was difficult, but the merchant minister did not hesitate to agree。

He is now managing his private finances for Cardinal Mazarin, and although some people are laughing at him for being banished by the king to the bishop, it is clear to him that he is only closer to the king than he was before, after all, there was a robed nobleman above him at that time, the procurator Nicholas Fouquet, this Mr. Fouquet can be said to be jealous and hateful to Kirbert, because the king's repeated actions are undoubtedly comparing them, although Fouquet is one step ahead by virtue of his own status, but Colbert is always a great threat.

Colbert knew that Fouquet had slandered him several times before the king that he had taken refuge with Mr. Bishop, and that he was a spy of the king, and that if it were not for the fact that the relationship between the king and Mr. Bishop was not as stiff as outsiders thought, perhaps he would have fallen victim to the rivalry between the two powers.

But Kirbert also knew that the king's favor for him was almost entirely based on his understanding and dedication to the king's will, and that if he slackened off or had some scheme, he would only be guillotined or gallows if he failed to complete the work given to him by the king for one time, or even if he simply failed to complete the work entrusted to him.

His king was merciful, but he was never merciful to those who disappointed him.

So every time he worked for the king, Colbert threw himself into it with a terrifying zeal, and this time was no exception, and that night he found from the familiar chauffeur merchant a thick crisp satin of dark blue and silver, white linen and gold silk ribbons, and beautiful calfskin heeled boots that met the king's requirements.

Then it was time to ask all the tailors he could recruit to make day and night, with a jingling of silver on one side, and a prison and a whip on the other, and anyone with a little brain knew what to choose, but fortunately the king demanded that the soldiers' garments be more textured than ornamental, so they reduced the production of lace and ornamental bands, and when the finished product came out, Captain Sebastien Vauban was the first to try it on, and when he appeared in front of them with his head held high, he looked like a splendid pheasant.

To say that the king has minimized the color, but at this time people will see simplicity as a kind of shame, if the king really uses gray, grass green or brown as the main color of military uniforms after a few hundred years, he is afraid that the recruitment work will be greatly resisted - so what is presented to people is a dark blue satin jacket, Puffy trousers, knee-high black boots, a long silver tunic with a gold-rimmed cross embroidered on the chest, and a bright red strap from the shoulders to the waist, silver buttons and gold pins, and a wide-brimmed hat embellished with ostrich feathers, could not help but fill people with longing, at least for the chosen soldiers.

This costume was given to them by the king.

When twenty-four men stood behind Viscount Tirenne in neatly dressed up, carrying muskets and swords, even the bishop could not help but nod slightly.

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And in this town of no more than three thousand people, as Mr. Bishop said, any stranger will attract the attention of others, but if ...... Not a stranger?

Few people pay attention to a woman who takes refuge under the convent, especially because she is bloated and old, or rather, people pay more attention to her fat body and swollen face, and as for the rest, like the color of her hair and eyes that are always hidden under the turban, who remembers, she didn't even have a lover, the priests hired her because she had given a sum of money to the monastery, and because she could relieve a lot of trouble, they were originally very absurd, but fifteen years ago, the demonic incident in Ludan— There, Father Grandi was accused by an abbess of the convent as the spokesman of the devil, and after several iterations, he was burned to death after numerous tortures by his amorous affairs, which made the French clergy involuntarily dignified.

It was such an old woman, who had scarcely any contact with anyone except at the command of the clergy, and in many places there was such a solitary old woman, who, after seeing the king's soldiers marching through the streets of the town in high spirits, went back to her hut, closed the door, lit the candle heads that the clergy had given her, and then, in a stretch that did not match her appearance, lifted her legs, lifted her skirt, drew a silver-plated dagger from it, and shone it against herself, first pulling out the cotton stuffed in her cheeks, and then wiping the powder off her face with a liner stained with spirits- Something made of the powder of charcoal mixed with the powder of oats, which would make the face black, yellow, and rough, she smiled at herself in the mirror, and inserted the dagger back into its original place, and began to untie her coat, and under the almost burst coat was a clump of bread, and she took it out and took a bite, put them in a basket, and slowly removed the petticoat, and perhaps it was hard for anyone to imagine that there was such a wonderful figure under the loose petticoat, but unfortunately no one could see it, and she took out a new silk undergarment, a dark red cotton tunic, and a lace hatIn short, it is something that a girl with a little wealth can afford.

By this time it was dark and there were fewer people on the streets, so she carried her basket and walked to the camp of the Guards.