And while the king was waiting for it, the messengers of Fouquet and Kirbel came to him on the same day, and they brought good news, not only did Fouquet buy wheat weighing about 1,000 martos (about 500 liters of one martto), but also managed to smuggle artillery and muskets from the Sicilians, and the king immediately summoned Friedrich Schaumberg - He was called by Bishop Mazaran to lead about a thousand infantry to protect the king's generals, he was born in Heidelberg, he was a Protestant, so the Queen Mother Anne never mined him, but fortunately he did not have much contact with this noble lady - he obeyed the king's orders.

Although on his arrival the Bishop said that he could obey the king's orders except on the march, General Schaumberg was a little confused, for the king was still a minor, but a child, and it was said that he had been in exile since he was supposed to be in school, and had no orthodox and coherent education, and that he was ready to take on a irascible and innocent young child, the reality was much easier than he had imagined— The king was very lenient with him, and hardly interfered with any of his decisions in military action, and for the exiles who followed him, his Majesty consulted him at the first time, although he had his own ideas.

As for the king's decision, Schaumberg was saying that it was not to expel but to contain, and on the side of the generals, he was in favor of it, and for no other reason. A mention should be made of Europe's bizarre conscription system.

As we all know, the number of national standing armies should match the national strength of a country, in order to ensure the necessary consumption of the army's supplies and money, as well as equipment, horses and camps, but we can also note that France is now simply a microcosm of the whole of Europe, each country is at war with another country or several countries, sometimes for prestige, sometimes for status, sometimes for money and territory, and more often for the defense of themselves and their families- This situation is exacerbated by the confusion of inheritance laws, so that even the smallest country will have a large army completely disproportionate to its size, in order to ensure that the needs of soldiers and officers are met, and to reduce their burden, there has been a state-to-state mercenary trade since a long time ago, that is, one country leases its own legions and equipment to another country for use, the most prestigious is Italy, but the Holy Roman Empire, England or former France were no exception, so if anyone came to the battlefields of this era, he would be surprised to see a general of the Holy Roman Empire, whose artillery came from Italy, his musketeers from France, his infantry from Denmark or other Germanic nations, and perhaps cavalry from pagan lands.

Schaumberg's army was no exception, for some of its soldiers had been left behind or fled for so long that he was in dire need of reinforcements, and in his opinion the homeless who had to abandon their homes and follow the king's family because of famine was the best target.

First: they are almost all young lads - hunger is the cruelest and best screening machine, children and old people are always the first to fall, and women would rather starve to death than leave their villages or towns, because they know very well what will happen to them.

Second: these people can be recruited into the barracks without the temptation or violence of money, and they do not flee easily, although they are likely to die on the battlefield if they stay in the barracks, but they will inevitably starve to death if they leave the barracks.

Thirdly, these French peasants certainly preferred to trust their king rather than the soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire, otherwise they would not have dragged their tired legs after the king's chariot in the first place.

But Schaumberg also knew very well that, just as the Queen Mother Anne strongly opposed (and even had a big quarrel with the king), accommodating these people meant that they had to be given something to eat, and now that there was a famine everywhere in France, although they had enough louis, they might not be able to exchange it for a large amount of food, and at that time, these thousands of people would become a threat to them— It was particularly annoying that the lords of the places they passed through had not only failed to offer food for the king and his retinue to enjoy, in accordance with the law and tradition, but had instructed the merchants to raise the price of food to a terrible level.

But—Schumberg laughed at the thought of this, and even the Bishop, or the Queen Mother, probably did not think that the first battle of his arrival, and many of the battles, had been fought not first against the army of traitors, but against the hoarders, unscrupulous and unfaithful merchants, who, though some of the merchants had hired guards, were fine against some unarmed poor people, and had no power against these soldiers who had been through the thirty years of war.

This is what the king told Schaumberg to do.

Schaumberg was hesitant at first, but he soon found that it was a fun and enjoyable thing to do, especially when some hopelessly stupid lords dared to cry out and beg the king to rule for them—the king's first chamberlain, Bontang, opened his eyes wide and asked them curiously, and they had been complaining to the king that there was only bran left in the castle, so where did the wheat they now speak of come from? If they are pleading for merchants, for there are laws and courts in France, go to Paris, and appeal to the judges of the High Court, and suppose that these honorable lords will do them justice.

How dare these lords and merchants go? Everyone knows that in Paris now, both the judges of the High Court and the Duke of Orleans, Gaston, are frantically accumulating money, and when they enter Paris, they cannot get out without being stripped of a few layers of skin.

It is a pity that such behavior can be repeated repeatedly, but not in three, especially after the lords and merchants have become well-behaved, although they cannot fully support this huge team to replenish all the provisions, but at least they can make a proper gesture, the problem is that in this way, the mountains of wheat continue to flow out like a river.

But as soon as the general entered the room, and saw the king's pleasant face, he knew that the two men on whom they had great hopes were worthy of the trust, and he quickly took off his hat, and bowed deeply to the king, and then, having received permission, stepped forward, and took the letter that had been opened, and he read Fouquet's letter first, and his smile never disappeared from beginning to end, and he was still inhaling deeply, as if he could smell the fragrance of wheat between the lines.

"Those cannons, muskets?"

"It's up to you. The king said that no one knew his army better than Schaumberg, and according to Bontang, the general was extremely devoted to his soldiers, so that even after the mercenary period and the harvest time, most of the soldiers were left in the army, and the new recruits were seen one by one, and his most trusted officers were assigned to guide and train them.

"I already have an idea. Schaumberg said excitedly.

"And this one, it's Colbert's. The king motioned for Bontang to give the second letter to Schaumberg, who opened it and read it, and Kolbert's harvest was greater than that of Fouquet, but there was a ship, or about ten marttos, of which he could not read, "I beg your pardon, your majesty, what is this 'Pomme'?"

It's potatoes.

But Louis could not say it directly, because the Spaniards who first discovered potatoes in the Americas, but they ate them raw, of course, not only astringent but also poisonous; the Scots refused from the beginning, because the Bible does not mention potatoes, and they are buried in the ground, like devil's apples; as for the French, they took a different path, and tasted the berries produced by potatoes, and it is conceivable that the sour taste is simply not tolerable to human beings.

There are also things like the death of the green potatoes, and the blackening of the cut potatoes and the fact that they are thought to be related to leprosy - not to mention, anyway, the potatoes have been the most disgusting plants for Europeans since then, and only a few nobles have planted a few in the garden because of their beautiful flowers.

In a letter to the king he said that he had roasted and boiled some potatoes according to the indigenous method, without incident, and that he was equally energetic and quick-witted, and that the fruit was enough to feed in a small piece, and that it was easier to cook than wheat, even if it was not washed, and that it could be cooked by throwing it directly into a campfire.

"A novelty food. "But it's very tasty when you get it right." He smiled at the still somewhat confused general, and had decided that when the potatoes were here, the royal family would lead by example, and given the curiosity of the people, they might be willing to try the tuber that would save them from starvation, now and in the future.

————————

They were now in Hertel, on a high ground on the right bank of the Aisne, an important military fortress since the 10th century, with strong walls and sharp artillery, but fortunately the lord here was a true royalist, and as soon as he saw the king's envoy, he followed him all the way to the king and the queen mother, and he was very attentive to the royal family and his attachés, and it was not a problem to put together a kitchen that would satisfy the king.

Potatoes were a staple food, a snack, and a dish, and the hardcover recipe that the king's first chamberlain, Bontang, cherished, made the people in the kitchen take their breath away and not even dare to say a superfluous word—they washed what looked like a lump of mud according to the order that Bontang read aloud, peeled the pimple skin, and then cut it into pieces, slices, and shreds...... Roasted with chicken, boiled with pork, roasted in the belly of a goose or sandwiched with cheese, and extravagantly stirred up a large pot of oil and fried the potato strips soaked in salted water......

The golden french fries were the first to be served, and of course, they were first brought to the king, and all the people stared at the king as he took a pinch of salt, sprinkled it carefully and evenly, turned it slightly over with his fork, and then picked it up with his fingers and munched it with pleasure.

The rich aroma could not help but arouse the appetite, and when their share was also placed on the plate, everyone who participated in the banquet followed the example of the king, sprinkled salt, flipped it with a fork, and took their fingers—some of the anxious people grabbed it with their hands, and the result was burned, but fortunately almost all of them were immersed in the crispy texture on the outside of the french fries, and the sweetness of the starch, and few people noticed that they were ugly.

After that, there is roast chicken with potatoes, stewed potatoes with pork, and baked potatoes with cheese...... The new cuisine has led to a lot of speculation, and some have guessed that sweet potatoes are similar to potatoes – interestingly, sweet potatoes are almost indistinguishable from potatoes, but sweet potatoes have entered European royalty and gained popularity decades ago, but potatoes have had a bad fate.

When the king announced the mystery, the people were a little surprised, but they did not panic, after all, they had eaten potatoes many times at the banquet, no one had been poisoned and died, no one had leprosy, and they were as noble as the queen mother and the king, what were they worried about?