Louis XIV wanted to build ironclad ships, the biggest difficulties were three, one was the need for huge hulls, the wood used in the construction of ships was not as people imagined, cut down from the forest, stripped of the bark, sawn into the desired shape to build a ship - a ship, especially a warship, needed wood not only complicated but also required a long time of various special treatments, keels, bow posts attached to the front of the main keel, masts, helm seats, gunwales, There are sometimes as many as three or even six types of timber used for rudder blades, and it takes a lot of money, time and effort to build a fleet from scratch that is strong enough to deterrent.

Charles I of England was beheaded by his courtiers because he was too obsessed with the construction of the fleet, which made the people angry, and Louis XIV did not want to follow in his footsteps, nor did he want to spend his life to accomplish this heavy undertaking, so he had to find another way - the thirty bulky Calais ships in the dowry of Princess Henrietta, which seemed to others to be chicken, and he looked like a great fortune glittering with golden light.

The second difficulty is the power to drive the heavy hull, which is no longer something that human beings can participate in, the wind - if there is a wind that can propel an ironclad ship, there is only an uncontrolled hurricane, and such a wind is by no means something that a few sails can control and retract. Fortunately, the problem was solved long before it was raised, and Louis XIV would not have proposed the idea of an ironclad ship without a steam engine.

The third difficulty is the iron on the ironclad ship. As we mentioned earlier, the seven ironclad ships that Louis XIV finally completed at his shipyard in Nantes used up all the steel reserves of France for ten years, France is a steel-poor country, and there are almost no large iron ore mines except for Lorraine, but as Louis XIV said, thanks to Leopold I, France does not have it, Austria has it......

Leopold I owed Louis XIV a huge debt of 1,500,000 livres - according to Queen Teresa's dowry, he had to marry three Spanish princesses to pay this debt, and the Spanish crown had to pay it - Austria's finances were not always ideal, not to mention that he also had to pay the military expenses of several other countries, because of the same faith, the Catholic countries were of course on the same side, but even if they were brothers, they had to be well accounted for—especially in war.

Throughout the history books, kings are rarely blamed and overthrown for their extravagant lives, no matter how beautiful the clothes they wear. What kind of rare jewelry do you wear? It doesn't matter how magnificent the palace or church is? Attract courtiers' vests? The only thing that the people are boiling about is war, is this a real devil? Devouring money and devouring life? Nothing can be born but pain and sorrow.

Such a war of faith? As a rescued Austria, of course, it cannot be denied, the Marquis de Lois of France and the minister Colbert have made the accounts very clear and organized, and there is nothing to find fault with? The chancellor of the treasury of Leopold I, by order of the emperor, had to repeatedly babble in gibberish? The delay by pretending to be crazy and stupid not only made other countries see the joke, but the Roman Church, as the guarantor, also complained that Austria was doing this to be celibate against the enemy the next time the Ottoman Turks came to attack?

But Leopold I was real...... I can't come up with the money......

We won't talk about how Leopold I suffered? Louis XIV waited for more than half a year, and Leopold I's chancellor of the exchequer and envoy changed three waves? Finally revealing what he really thinks, of course? It is impossible to say that it is impossible to pay off debts with territory, and if so? The Austrians must not have cared about another war with the French - he wanted black iron.

Whenever? Iron is an important war material? Especially after entering the era of thermal weapons, muskets need iron, artillery requires iron, and when building fortresses and fortifications, cement mixed with iron slag will also be stronger, such important materials Leopold I of course did not want to give - but he only had these two ways in front of him, the other is to sell the right to collect taxes to merchants, that is, the so-called tax package, this mistake was made by the French as early as a hundred years ago, and so was Austria, Leopold I can be said to follow in the footsteps of Louis XIV to reform the tax law, of course he did not want to fall short.

He gave iron.

Austria's Stellischer Iron Ore Mine is an iron mountain as high as 2,400 feet, the largest open-pit mine in Europa, as early as the third century AD, the Romans mined iron ore here, rich in yield, excellent quality, is one of the most valuable assets of Leopold I and the Austrian royal family. Leopold I gritted his teeth and took out nearly half of the treasury of the Stellischer iron ore mine, and finally offset most of the debt.

This half of the inventory allowed Louis XIV to finally meet the armor and artillery needs of thirty ironclad ships.

Now what people see is the most satisfactory masterpiece of the Sun King, even if it is far away, people can still feel the pressure brought to them by the thirty giant ships- Except for the people of the court, most of the people gathered here were the inhabitants of the vicinity of Dunkirk, who were either sailors or fishermen, and were very sensitive to the size of the ships, and even if some of them could not even write their own names, they could easily estimate the displacement of the thirty ships, and they suspected that they were wrong, because the draft of the Calais ships was obviously different from what they had thought—perhaps because they were carrying some heavy cargo.

But before they could count again, more ships appeared in front of them like dolphins following a school of whales, thirty black giant ships lined up in a line, and the later ships were arranged in layers according to the number of classes, as people calculated, there were three hundred and twenty ships here, and after removing the thirty black ships that they did not know how to distinguish, there were thirty first-class battleships, fifty second-class battleships, about a hundred third-class battleships, and some belonged to frigates and supply ships, but they were also equipped with about forty guns、

The ships were arranged in four columns in the admiration and silence of the people, and then starting from the black giant, the muzzles of the guns opened, the dragon's throat trembled, and the deafening roar accompanied by light gray smoke crossed the deep blue water, setting off waves in waves, and the spreading tremors rushed to the embankment, and the white waves rose.

Ji Long!

It was the first cannon shot of September, and the first roar of the Royal Fleet of France at the beginning of a century of glory, and the history of France with coastline but navy was a thing of the past, and the sound of cannons and the heartbeat in people's chests played a magnificent symphony, and at some point, whether it was a nobleman, an official, or an ordinary citizen, they involuntarily put their hands on their chests, as if they did not do so, the violently beating heart would jump out of their chests.

Ji Long!!

How loud, how dense, how magnificent! The roar of artillery was incessant, like the thunder before a storm, tumbling over Dunkirk, and the golden-red flames overshadowed the sun, even the depths of the deep black water!

訇隆,訇隆!!

When people wanted to cheer, they found themselves in tears, some people grabbed the brim of their hats, tried to throw them in the air, but their hands and feet were weak, maybe their friends and family wanted to speak to them, but their ears were still completely occupied by the rumbling of cannons, some hugging each other, others running to the dock, stretching their arms, like this to be able to hug these huge ships in their arms.

Not only the commoners, but also the nobles, the former forgot their fear and jealousy, the latter forgot their dignity and reserve, they all stood up, and the telescopes passed from one person to another in the hands of the people, and at first only the nobles of the stands passed the telescopes to each other, but at some point, the brass tubes, gilt and silver-plated, and even the telescopes inlaid with precious stones and pearls were lifted up in the hands of sailors and peasants.

Even the humblest, the poorest, and even the most greedy people, they did not pay attention to the value of the telescope in their hands, nor did they hold on to it, but each of them held the telescope and looked deeply for a few seconds, and engraved every detail of those ships in their eyes and hearts, and passed it on to the next person.

Ji Long!

Louis rarely paid attention to the situation of others, although this was his wish, but he could not understand it until he saw it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears...... It wasn't the sights and sounds that could be imagined, he was in a trance, the ships that lined up like blades in the narrow strait—yes, his, and after twenty years he had built a mighty fleet for France, a real fleet of wolves at sea.

Some people may say that this fleet has not been tested in war, but Louis knows that in naval warfare, ships are the most important, and any little progress and advantage can turn the whole tide of the war, just like the T-shaped tactics have been used until three hundred years later, whether the fleet can win the battle still depends on the speed, tonnage, armor, and number of guns...... It is quick to occupy a good position, and the tonnage and armor represent the defensive capabilities of the ship, not to mention the artillery......

Even so, the king was the first to come to his senses, and he looked at the Marquis de Lois beside him with a smile: "How many times have you prepared air cannons?"

"Forty times, of course, this is your fortieth birthday. The Marquis of Lovas gently wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and his voice was slightly hoarse—the king's smile became meaningful, and he smiled: "Each." ”

"What a bunch of bastards!" Louis whispered, "remember to remind me that everyone on board gets ten gold louis, as a thank you from the king." ”

"Allow me to thank you on their behalf, Your Majesty. Said the Marquis de Lois.

At this time, the people in the square suddenly stirred, Louis looked intently, it turned out that his ironclad ship was heading for the dock, the huge and terrifying ironclad ship had brought a great shock to the shipyard workers and the king, etc., how much panic it brought to Dunkirk and the people in the court, at the beginning, just one royal power almost made the crown prince and others breathless, the whole thirty giant ships were like monsters that replaced heaven and earth, people's necks involuntarily tilted back, and the people who ran to the dock before ran back in a panic, they ran while following those who pointed at them and laughed ha。

"That's nice. The Duke of Saint-Simon heard the man beside him say, "France." ”

France?

The Duke of Saint-Simon remembered that there were also schools run by the king's magistrates and priests in his domain, and that he had sent spies to find out what was being taught, and that it was not surprising that the teachers demanded that the students be loyal to the king, but that he was a little puzzled by the fact that they would ask the children to repeat that they were French.

Of course they are...... French.

The Duke of Saint-Simon looked at the man in front of him, he tied his hair in a turban, his skin was dark and rough, his lips were white, he was probably a sailor, he was holding a telescope in his outstretched hand, it was the Duke of Saint-Simon, yes, he looked a little cowering and anxious, of course because the Duke of Saint-Simon seemed to be a prominent man, and anxious because his friend had run to the nearest place to the black ship and was waving desperately at him.

"To answer my question, this telescope is yours. Said the Duke of Saint-Simon.

"Excuse me, my lord. The sailor was a little stunned, but replied respectfully.

"The fleet is good, but it's the king's, what does it have to do with you, why are you so happy?"

The sailor blinked, as if he did not quite understand the question posed by the duke, and said in a childlike and confused tone, "My lord," he said, "I am French, and this is the French fleet." ”

Duke Saint-Simeon paused, "It's yours." ”

Looking at the sailor hurrying to the back of his companion, "How stupid we are. He said to himself.

Louis XIV's ambition was greater than that of any previous king, not only did he want to continue the glory of the House of Bourbon, but his ambition was not limited to the court and the court, his ambition radiated to every corner of France, just as he called himself the Sun King, he wanted every one of his people to be covered by his light and heat, like a Parisian, or a Versailles, who in the future would be proud not only of their looks, talents, knowledge or blood, but also of being a Frenchman.

So what did the king get?

Of course, I am the country.