Today's asparagus is served with hollandaise sauce. Bang Tang said.

Although the Dutch parliamentarians looked at Louis XIV like a lion, in fact, Louis's taste tended to be light, focusing on the freshness and quality of the food, and the hollandaise sauce was a new sauce that he extracted and improved from a local light butter sauce after he came to the Netherlands, this sauce was milky yellow and semi-solidified, and was used to complement the asparagus boiled only in water, and the asparagus on a white ceramic plate stood upright, about twelve or thirteen of them, with a pointed head reddish-brown, and a stem emerald green, dotted with small coffee-colored leaves, and the king pinched one, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it to his contentment。

Today's dinner with him is still the royal brother Philip and the Duke of Colonna, in the war against the Netherlands, he can no longer lead an army as in the war against Flanders, but stay with the king, the king charges for the Viscount of Tyrene and Captain Vauban, the Duke of Orleans has no dissatisfaction with this, he knows very well that if he continues to accumulate merits in the war, the relationship between him and the king will become extremely awkward, and the war against the Netherlands is a real war between countries, in this war, the glory of the Sun King must not be hidden by anyone。

The Duke of Cologna was childish, as an underage child, he didn't like vegetables, but in front of Louis, he definitely didn't dare to show it, although Louis can be said to be a good father, but sometimes, when a person establishes supreme authority, the people around him have to think more about everything.

The Duke of Orleans was not so ...... when he saw the Duke of Colonna doing his best to show that he was not so When he hated asparagus, he couldn't help but think of his brother Louis when he was a child - when he and Louie were still hovered in his mother's lap, Louis was a picky eater far more than the current Duke of Cologna, but similar to the Duke of Cologna, although Louis never showed his fear of anyone- Even the Queen Mother, or the Bishop, or the Slingers, or the creatures of darkness, were able to control themselves like an adult (some adults may not even be able to), knowing when to be patient, when to be perfunctory, and sometimes not hesitating to refuse.

"What's the matter?" the king asked gently, noticing that the Duke of Orleans had suddenly stopped moving.

"Oh, brother," asked Philip, "I don't like asparagus, can I skip it?"

"Of course, if you don't like it, don't eat it. Louie said.

With the king's permission, the Duke of Orleans took aside the asparagus in his nephew's envious gaze, and let the servants take it away and replace it with roast venison, drizzled with a sauce of honey and pepper, and the Duke of Cologna's gaze became more eager, but he could only eat with his father the flounder, which is commonly called flounder, which is flattened and strangely shaped, but the flesh is fine, and there are not many small spines— Louis of course noticed the look in his firstborn son's eyes, but the Duke of Orleans was a long adult, and when he was at his strongest, the Duke of Cologna was still between a child and a teenager, and if he couldn't help but have a lust like the Duke of Orleans, even if he was a wizard, he was afraid that he would have to suffer a lot of torture.

In the past few years, Louie has a little understanding of the medical methods of the inner world, and the prevalent and respected medical methods in the surface world, which are mainly based on surgical methods, the inner world has gone to the other extreme, whether the people in the inner world are injured or sick, they are solved by a bottle of potions, and the magic potions of wizards can indeed come in handy for a lot of use, but perhaps because the inner world was also in a continuous war not long ago, potions are not useful for some ordinary diseases, and many potions also have a lot of side effects.

To put it simply, if someone has some unspeakable disease, in order to make the potion work best, the wizards cut that part open, cut it off, and then the potion and magic go hand in hand, allowing the cut part to grow back......

"You wouldn't want it, would you. Louis whispered to the Duke of Cologna, who was sitting on his left-hand side, Luciano the Younger, "And I'll let Bontang stare at Philip and drink eldertea." "Elderberry tea is also a drink in the world, which has a good effect on dissolving oiliness, but the problem is that it is bitter and astringent.

The Duke of Cologna laughed at this, and it was evident that he had gained some balance, while Philippe complained loudly, thinking that Louis should not be so partial to the Duke of Cologna, "There must be gains, brother." Louis said, dividing the two candied cherries from his cake to the Duke of Colonna and the Duke of Orleans, "I'll go see some people later," said Louis, "and you will take care of Lucy for me." ”

Duke Philip let the smile remain on his face: "Okay, brother, we may be able to go for a walk by the lake." ”

"Don't mess with the swans. Louis commanded.

——————

The royal brother and the Duke of Cologna had just retired, and the relaxed atmosphere of the room had vanished as quickly as the sweet smell of a silver platter, and Louis had changed into his most beautiful and elaborate outfit with the help of Bontang, the king with a necklace on his chest, a ring on his hand, long curls draped over a coat that was as heavy as a plate armor because of the excessive embroidery of gold and silver thread, and he moved his feet, and the silver heels of his shoes clanged on the ground.

Before the final battle against Amsterdam, that is, against the Netherlands, the king had a difficult battle to fight.

In the seventeenth century in Europa, there is one thing that is difficult for people to imagine now, that is, there is no country that can wage a war simply with the power of the state, to put it bluntly, like Louis XIV, it is impossible to start a war such as against Flanders or the Netherlands by adding up the treasury, his own private property, all the assets of the prince and the queen mother, and all the taxes that can be collected, so at that time, according to tradition and objective conditions, even if Louis XIV immediately implemented a strict military control system after seizing Femers, and drew blood from Flanders' body, greatly alleviating the consumption of 120,000 people, but still having to borrow from merchants and bankers at home and abroad – that is, to issue war bonds.

War bonds, the earliest can be traced back to the ancient Roman period, when the soldiers in the ancient Roman legions needed to equip themselves with weapons and armor, they often borrowed money from merchants to buy what they needed, and then used their own loot in the war to repay the loan, and later with the gradual privatization of the ancient Roman legions, the commander of the legion had to equip his soldiers with armaments and ensure supplies, so this behavior became more and more common and large-scale.

The reason why the Netherlands was able to become the concentration of wealth in Europa was also because the Dutch first applied the financial credit business to their armed forces, as described before, the Dutch navy was invincible, because the Dutch merchants had this need, warships were their commodity, and when each fleet needed to be maintained and expanded, the merchants bought bonds to support it, and their return was the warship escort and plunder, as well as the compensation and ransom of the vanquished, as well as colonies and slaves.

The man whom Louis XIV would meet tonight was the merchant who had been buying bonds constantly and in large quantities, which had enabled him to wage these two wars in succession.

It is strange that among these merchants there were the Dutch, who had no guilt about this tantamount to treason, and their posture was very calm, even arrogant, and Louis knew that they would say in private that although the Dutch army was defeated by the French, the great Sun King had to borrow money from the Dutch, and even if the French king won the final victory, they would still make a lot of money.

However, in this era, this kind of thinking can be understood by many people, after all, in the hearts of many people, the concept of the state is not as clear as that of later generations, if you talk about faith, if you talk about ideas, they can give their property and even their lives for it, but the state ...... This is also due to the fact that there are many places, regions, and even principalities at this time that are constantly changing people. For example, if Louis XIV had been able to achieve what he wanted, half of the Netherlands would have become a large French province.

"Oh, good Bang Tang," Louis raised his hand to cover his face, "take the candle farther away, it's too harsh." How many diamonds are on this coat? I think I can wear it to illuminate my soldiers. ”

"You're the Sun King. "I think you're being sarcastic about me." Louis said, and Bontang nodded: "Your wisdom is like that of St. Augustine." ”

"That wise saint has a bad fate," Louis tightened his scarf, "I'm just a layman who wants to have a smooth journey." ”

——————

Although it was an interview, the merchants were not qualified to talk directly to the king, they were allowed to meet the king, more like to seek a tangible promise and guarantee, after all, the victory of France was imminent, and Louis asked them to continue to invest more, his army of 120,000 was like a hungry beast, if Louis could not let it eat, it could eat the king, the merchants were all embarrassed, for this war, they had invested nearly ten million livres of money, although this can be said to be a necessary investment, but their treasury is also about to dry up。

Unexpectedly, the first to stand up was the Dutch merchant, "Monsieur Earl," he said, and carefully peeked through behind his drooping eyes at the corners of the king's garment, which were becoming more and more dazzling in the candlelight, and this coat alone was probably about a million livres, and not counting the jewels worn by the king, was enough to repay the interest of these months, but though the king had no other king's procrastination, he had to know—"Sir," he repeated: If possible, can we know why you still need such a large expenditure?" he said cautiously, "as far as I know, your army is invincible, and the gates of Amsterdam are about to be opened to you, and if the glorious Caesar, the venerable Sun King, wants to hold a grand triumphal ceremony, we can give you ten percent sincerity, if you say, sir, we will do it." ”

"Your Majesty does not need such false names," replied the Marquis of Loise, acting for the King, "what he needs is your sincerity. He paused, "Don't worry about your investments, the king is willing to add a penny of interest to appease your senseless uneasiness, and when the war is over," he said, "everyone here will receive a royal charter—" As soon as this sentence was settled, the merchants were in an uproar, and perhaps some people could not understand what the charter was, so here is a clear example, that is, the Dutch East India Company, which grew into the current behemoth under the charter issued by the Dutch parliament, which can give you a monopoly on the purchase and sale of certain goods, or a waterway, or the autonomy of a city...... Wait, maybe the king of France is not so generous as that, but the power in the hands of a king, even a small part, is enough for them to change their court, or even become the source of a prominent surname.

The Dutch merchants retreated into the ranks of the merchants, and they whispered to each other, and Louis nodded to the Marquis de Lois, who had played his part in the negotiation, and as soon as he was in his place, the merchants bowed and saluted, and it was not until the door was opened and closed that they began to calculate and consider again anxiously, and the Dutch merchants were hesitant, for the merchants who had elected him as their representative wanted him to ask the King of France to reduce the duties on Dutch merchant ships and goods— Since Louis XIV declared war on the Netherlands, he raised the tariffs on Dutch goods and merchant ships by 30% in one go, this crazy move made the Dutch merchants complain, under such high tariffs, their trade could not continue at all, the door of the Netherlands was indeed about to open to Louis XIV, but the door of France was still closed to the Dutch, that is, at that moment, a thought slipped through the merchant's mind - maybe it was not a bad thing for France to take the Netherlands.

Such an idea was like a pebble falling into the IJsselmeer, and soon disappeared, and the merchants made a decision in a few minutes that they were willing to invest more in the king's war, except that the face value and quantity of the bonds, as well as the date of repayment and interest, had to be renegotiated, and the Marquis de lois handed over the matter to his subordinates, and went to see the king to report the results, and he was quite flattered when he was allowed to enter the king's bedroom, for Louis XIV was very much like a Puritan in this respect— He didn't like to be surrounded by ministers and nobles all the time.

The king had already changed his heavy coat and put on a soft velvet robe, and winter was coming, and the fireplace in the room was blazing, and the light of the fire made every face in the room wander in an uncertain light and dark, and when the Marquis of Lois gave the answer, although he could not look at the king's face, he heard a soft sigh.