But no one cared about the murmurs of the Duke of Saint-Simon anymore, and it was confusing that the voices of the people who had been cheering before were now gradually lowering - but not because of disappointment, how could they be disappointed! Those who have not experienced it may not know that when a great spectacle befalls people without warning, awe replaces joy and makes them genuinely afraid, or, just as champagne can be slightly drunk and excited, while whiskey and rum can be quickly intoxicated, too strong satisfaction can make a person dizzy and not know what to do or say.

It is not impossible for a full thirty huge ironclad ships to be moored in the dock at the same time, but it will undoubtedly obscure the view of the people and prevent them from seeing the situation at sea - ships transferred from Dunkirk, Calais and Nantes and many other ports and shipyards cannot just fire a few salutes - and after impressing the viewer incomparably, the ironclad ships move towards the two wings of the harbor, giving way to the grand stage.

Then people saw that with milky white clouds, clear skies, and sapphire blue sea as the background, the king's more than 300 ships were divided into three sides, and a simulated naval battle was launched on the sea, first two sides fought, and then the third party deliberately fought with the snipe and the mussel for the fisherman's profit, and finally the three were all intertwined with each other, the smoke rolled, the muzzles of the guns spewed red flames, the sailors on the ship wore coats of different colors, fighting and shouting at each other, and people kept falling into the water— Even if they knew it was a performance, those watching couldn't help but clench their hands.

The battle lasted about an hour, though viewers might think that after only three or five minutes, the ships of all three sides retreated in an orderly manner at the command of the commander, and the blackened ironclad ships entered the field again - this time against their opponents, not their colleagues, but the target ships. If there were any Englishmen or Dutchmen here, they would have been furious, because these target ships were ships of both countries that had been captured and captured by the French.

One of the most conspicuous is the "Seven Provinces", with which General Reut fought for twenty years, in the final battle between the British and French forces and the Netherlands, the sail of the ship caught fire, the mast was broken, and the stern and bow were damaged, but with the Dutch shipyard, it was not impossible to rebuild it, but Louis XIV pondered for a long time and decided to use it as a target ship after a little repair. Of course, a ship with such a prominent status could not be used in ordinary training, but now is the most appropriate and appropriate opportunity.

The people of Dunkirk are very familiar with the "Seven Provinces", mainly when the Dutch were galloping on the sea? "Seven Provinces" as the flagship of General Leut? Both the British and the French trembled when they saw it, and they couldn't help but sigh after identifying the "Seven Provinces", but then the ironclad ships pulled them back to the present at once, and the "Wangquan" led by them took the lead in opening up the cannon bombardment, completely destroying the mast and bow tower of the "Seven Provinces" that had been erected again, and its scarred sails ended their ill-fated fate a few minutes later? Turning into gray-black smoke in the flames? But it was the "Duke of Orleans" that gave the ship the final blow? Because in the previous trial war with the British? "Sun King" successfully rammed and sank the British's "Sea King"? So in this show? The king gave this honor to his brother.

The Duke of Orleans couldn't help but turn crimson with excitement, when the "Duke of Orleans" completely ran over the wreckage of the "Seven Provinces"? He jumped out of his seat? Desperately clapping - the king had to block it gently? Lest the Duke of Orleans, who was overly excited, jumped down from the terrace, and immediately afterwards he stood up, walked to the edge of the terrace, and waved his hat into the distance.

Today the king wore a bright red wide-brimmed hat, and even the ostrich feathers on it were red, without a hint of variegation, and when he swayed on the terrace, even at such a distance, the people on board could see it—so that the great whistle loaded on the thirty ironclad ships was sounded at the same time, even drowning out the previous rumbling of cannons, and the ears of the people were ringing, and it was only then that the king was noticing that he was greeting his fleet.

At last the emotions that had been suppressed by the horror boiled over, and the people let out earth-shattering cries, shouting Long live France, or long live Louis XIV, or long live the Sun King, and tried to rush to the bottom of the terrace - and then the power of the nobles and nobles was finally revealed, and they, unlike the people, came up to congratulate the king in person, and for a time there was a lot of sycophancy, and even the clergy praised God with such sincerity and lotus tongue.

"There's going to be a big feast tonight. Louis said, and then he turned to the people, because Dunkirk Castle is located in the center of the three docks, facing the sea, and the square connected to the docks also plays an important role as a dock, a temporary storage and transportation channel, so it is very wide, like St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, 1,100 feet long and 500 feet wide, enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. Of course, for the safety of the king, after the selection, there were only tens of thousands of ordinary people here, but it was seen that there were many people, every face was like a flower bathed in the sun, and there was a deep sense of joy, and the men waved their hats vigorously at the king, and the ladies even jumped up, and there were people, mainly the squires and officers closest to the terrace, who bowed deeply to the king.

"Rejoice," cried Louis, "my people!"

The sound of a tsunami of joy swept through the square, like waves on the sea, and it didn't cover the whole of Dunkirk!

Louis's eyes couldn't help but moisten slightly, was it because of the fleet, not all, the main thing, as the Duke of Saint-Simon was frustrated, at least in Dunkirk, the people here have come to see themselves as French, Dunkirks of France, not just Dunkirks - the subtle influence of the king for twenty years, Dunkirk's teachings have finally worked. In the final analysis, it is closely related to the king's own territory and power, in the original Franks, the king only owned a small piece of royal territory, at most he could only be regarded as a large prince, and the size of the territory limited the number of people, and the number of people directly affected the army and finances - so the king of France has been tirelessly expanding his territory in various ways, including but not limited to marriage, inheritance, and trading.

Louis XIV did the same, but not only that, he was the king of France, and his subjects should certainly not be the subjects of a count or a duke, they belonged to France and also to the king, and the vassals of the vassals were not my vassals, this would not work with Louis XIV!

By the time he said "I am the country", he had already seen that he would hold the whole of France in his hands completely!

Bontang walked out of the room behind the terrace, and the two attendants behind him carried a three-foot square box, a three-foot square box for two strong young lads to carry, because of course the contents were too heavy—the Marquis de Lois couldn't help but take a deep breath, it was full of yellow golden louis!

The king's hand was plunged deep into the pile of gold coins, and he grabbed a large handful of them, and then raised his hand so that the little golden thing shimmered in the sunlight, and the people under the terrace saw it, and could not help but pause, and then shouted even louder, "It seems that gold coins are more pleasing." Louis jokingly said a word to the Duke of Orleans, and with a wave of his arm, a brilliant golden rain was thrown into the air.

At a glance, the hat and hair were replaced by outstretched arms, and the king scattered gold coins three times in a row, taking care not to spill them in one place, so as not to cause a stampede, and gave up his place to his younger brother, the Duke of Orléans, although he was very keen on this kind of activity, in fact, he liked to be noticed more than his brother, but when he saw that the king was returning to the room, he hurriedly scattered it twice, and asked the queen, the crown prince, to continue the coin scattering activity...... And he pursued him.

"Brother, brother, Your Majesty!" he cried, a hurried gesture that had been rare since he had changed from a skirt to trousers, and Louis stopped and turned to his brother, "Slow down," he paused with his cane, "What is there to be so urgent?"

"May I go to the Duke of Orleans?" pleaded the Duke of Orleans, who had boarded the "Crown" in Nantes, but the "Duke of Orleans" was one of the ten most recently completed ironclad ships, and its armament and armor were more perfect than that of the Crown, especially the craftsmen who decorated its mast and bow tower and stern according to the king's request, which was not found on any other ship except the "Sun King", which made people know at a glance that the king valued his younger brother.

More importantly, the king had promised his brother that he would do whatever he could if he was willing to be loyal to him, and the Duke of Orleans did it, and Louis XIV did it, which made the Duke of Orleans ambitious - he had not been to the battlefield since he returned from Holland, and for several years he had grown tired of balls and dresses, and wanted to smell the smoke and blood - if this ship belonged to him, did it mean that it would be his flagship from now on?

Louis saw the duke's thoughts, and couldn't help crying and laughing: "Naval battles and land battles are not the same thing. He said.

"The first time I went to war, I won a great victory for you. The Duke of Orleans said that it was true.

"I won't allow anyone to waste his talent. Louis said, "Yes, of course the Duke belongs to the Duke," and he patted his brother on the shoulder affectionately: "And, if you want to board the Duke of Orleans, you have a chance at once," he said, "because we are going by boat to Rennes." ”

————

Everywhere there are those who rejoice and there are those who mourn.

The royal family on the terrace all participated in the throwing of gold coins, and the Duchess of Orleans was of course no exception, and the Grand Princess, looking at his mother's pale face and crumbling body, hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and took her arm, "Stand up," she whispered, "Stand up, Mother, don't let others misunderstand you." ”

A foreign princess is an undesirable character in any court, because of the recent riots of the British, the people of Dunkirk have a bad opinion of the Duchess of Orleans, and the gossip among the noblewomen is more hurtful than the sword, and in this moment of jubilation, if an English princess, the Duchess of France, shows a different attitude, then what awaits her must be accusations and attacks - especially when England has almost made it clear that it is going to be at war with France again.

It is correct to say that the devastation caused by the Hundred Years' War has not been healed by either country, even Louis XIV, whose "friendship" with Charles II is limited to two people, is an open secret, the marriage of Princess Henrietta and the Duke of Orleans is only a temporary peace, England does not want to see a strong France, and France does not want to see a united England.

So at this time, the performance of the Duchess of Orleans is very important. The Grand Princesse gritted her teeth and lifted her mother up—the Duchess had to bear most of her weight on her daughter, but the Grand Princess—she was indeed very weak, but at this time, even if she died the next moment, people had to see that she was happily dead.

Both she and the Grand Princesse could feel that people's eyes were focused on them, and at this time, the Crown Prince Louis Jr. quickly walked over and grabbed the Duchess's other arm: "Hold on a little longer, Madame." He whispered.

At this time, the queen was holding a handful of gold coins, smiling and looking at the people, asking them to bless the king, bless France, and buy time for the Duchess of Orleans, and when Madame d'Orleans finally came to her, she immediately stuffed the gold coin in her hand to the Duchess, and the Duchess of Orleans barely stretched her arm out of the fence of the terrace, and the gold coins tumbled and fell, but she looked further away.

It's not a ship, it's Dover.

United Kingdom.