The five-year-old princess did not know that she already had a future husband, but Leopold I knew that she had suffered the biggest defeat since the pro-government, fortunately, the Netherlands needless to say, Switzerland, which originally belonged to the Habsburgs, was sure to lean towards the Holy Roman Empire in this alliance to alliance, not France, and the same was true of the Oldenburg family in Denmark, as for the Roman Church, after the previous humiliation, they would never support the French king, the problem is that Alexander VII is said to be seriously ill and will soon go to see God- Leopold I had to devote some of his efforts to it, after all, he was not without enemies in the Church.

And the king of France, who was far away in Lille, was much happier, and the road leading to Brussels had been flattened. The places of supply and rest had been determined and clarified, the King's Guards set out the day first, and then the King's caravan, and when they left Lille, Louis did not ride a horse, but sat in the carriage, casually flipping through the papers in his hand, and the Viscount of Tyrrenne, who sat opposite him, bowed down and lifted a little curtain and looked at the people of Lille outside, who had been forced to come and cheer and bow down when the King entered Lille, and so did when he left, "Behold," he said softly: Your Majesty, their eyes are full of hatred. ”

"That's the best compliment for us. Louis said without looking up.

Viscount Tirene let out a loud laugh and lowered the curtain of the carriage, "Your Majesty, don't read the documents in the carriage, it's not good for the eyes. ”

"Gee, I thought Bang Tang wasn't here, I could have been more casual. Louis said, but he also put the papers aside with grace: "When will we get to Brussels?"

"We can arrive tonight. "Captain Vauban is looking forward to your arrival," said Viscount Tyrrenne. ”

"Tell me," asked the king, with a bitter face, "hasn't Vauban built me another great platform?" ”

"Why, don't you like it?" said Viscount Tirrenne.

"But it makes me feel like a cruel king. Louis gave him a quick look and made a gesture, he wanted to name a few Roman emperors, but seriously, there were too few Roman emperors who died, and he really didn't want to curse himself in this transcendent world, but he did feel like he was watching a bloody fight, even more than the ancient Romans who took the life and death of gladiators as a source of pleasure.

After a moment's thought, Viscount Tirrenne came to know the King's thoughts, "I think you should think it is more like a magnificent and glorious show." ”

"Performance?"

"Yes, everyone here is fighting for you, for France, their death is far more noble than death due to famine, pestilence or sin, they fight for you, knowing that their families will not be displaced, that their parents, their children and their wives will not starve, these are all gifts that you have given them, and they do not have to worry that they will die in hell because there is no priest to do the sacrament of the last life for them, and they do not have to worry about wailing and dying naked in the mud after being wounded, you have done what all kings have not done, you are a saint, Your Majesty, I can vouch for it, in your lightEven the most cowardly cowards will have the courage to face even the most vicious enemies, and when they charge forward, you can feel that you are watching them, as if they were blessed by God, so that they can face everything without fear. ”

"You're exaggerating. Even Louie couldn't help but blush a little.

"Oh, your majesty, I can't tell a tenth of it with a short tongue, and you ought to look at your soldiers to see that I am not telling a word. ”

"I will. "This is exactly what Louis planned, tomorrow will be the most important and final battle for Flanders, and there will probably be many soldiers here who will never see him again.

——————

When the king arrived at Waterloo on the south side of Brussels, it was, as Viscount Tirrene said, it was dusk, twilight was falling, and only the place where heaven and earth intersected there was still a white line of afterglow, Waterloo was a small town, and of course could not afford to have tens of thousands of French soldiers stationed, so from the town outward, for miles stretched for the tents of soldiers and officers, and the king rested for a while in the best houses in town, and then set out for the camp—"but you haven't had dinner yet." "Bontang said, while raising his cloak, having served the king for so many years, he was also familiar with the king's style, Louis did not like people to rebel or disobey, whether the starting point was good or bad, like now, Bontang can remind him, but not say, Your Majesty, you should have dinner before going to the barracks.

"I went to see what the soldiers were eating, and I ate with them. Louis said casually.

He left Bang Tang in his room, which had a lot to do, such as the fact that the king had to bathe before going to bed, which was no easy task in this small, remote town.

As soon as the king left the room, he was followed closely by two clergymen, and a group of attendants, some of whom were musketeers whom the king trusted, some of whom were the second or third sons of the ministers, and some, as everyone knew it, but no one would say, the Italian wizard from the island of Gayola disguised as a wandering student of the House of Colonna.

They were so prepared, naturally, to guard against the dark wizards from Flanders, although the King of France had been on his own expedition for some time, and the laurels of victory were within reach, but those dark wizards seemed to have been burned down, motionless, and did not react at all, and in the cities they captured, the wizards found only some dangerous remnants - like the portrait-like things, which were disgusting but not too lethal. The wizards of Gayola were not at ease with this - the Spanish dark wizards were able to survive the inquisition's fierce encirclement, not because they were cute enough - they were not only evil, but also chaotic, almost all of them were insane.

If it weren't for the fact that in recent years, the wizards of Gayola had often come and gone to the court, learned a lot from the mortals they disdained, and they would have even persuaded the king to return to Paris, but they now knew that if they did not take the golden fleece, all the work that the king, and indeed the whole of France, had paid for it in vain, and even the glory of the king would have dimmed a lot.

The king understood the sorcerers' thoughts, and he put it all in another place for the time being, and he was greeted by Vauban a thousand feet from the barracks - also to prevent the king from being stopped by some fool who knows how it would exist, the cement walls and forts were lit with torches, the wooden fences were removed, and the patrols either stopped by the roadside and bowed to the king, or turned away from the ...... The king bowed slightly to the faces reddened by the firelight, and the ostrich feathers on his hat trembled with it, and he would occasionally stop to ask for the name of an officer, and the lad would surely tremble with excitement.

"Though I would love to talk to our lads," said the king, laughing, "but I am very hungry, and I smell a tempting aroma—your supper must be ready." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" said Vauban, proudly, "I ordered them to start cooking an hour ago, and everything should be ready now." ”

"What do you eat?" asked the king, seemingly casually, "may you add one to me?"

Viscount Tyrrenne glanced at Vaoban, who hesitated for a moment, but then he raised his head: "What a great honor, Your Majesty!"

Vauban was not unreasonable, before Louis, the supply of the army, especially for the soldiers, was not very decent, as mentioned before, during the Thirty Years' War, the armies of the kings of Europa were still dominated by mercenaries, of course, do not expect the mercenaries to have discipline or morality, no, it should be said that the mercenaries with these two things would have starved to death a long time ago, because the mercenary employers and generals always take pleasure in deducting their commissions and supplies, and if they want to live, if they want to make a little life for themselves, the mercenaries must plunder, and their food and clothing are all from the wayThey ate whatever they had from the villages or city dwellers they were stationed and conquered, and when they marched, they would eat jerky and biscuits—yes, the biscuits as we know them, except that they were used as military quartermasters—flour without yeast, with milk, or baked twice with water, with sugar or salt, if possible.

In Louis's army, there were also biscuits, and a new word was invented, "bread baked twice" biscuit - bis (again) and cuit (roasted) in French, and because corn was planted on a large scale, sugar and salt were added to it without hesitation, but this was an emergency food, and the soldiers would carefully collect it in their bags even if they received it, and they now had the luxury of three meals a day, including porridge, bread, cured meats and cheese.

Bread and cured meats were only available at noon, and now it was evening, so there was only porridge and cheese, and even then it was a good meal for the soldiers—although it was porridge, it was rather a thick soup, with crushed carrots, wheat kernels, beans, and small pieces of cured meat, and butter was put before it came out of the pan, and it was hot, and it was full of wooden cups, and it was served with baked potatoes, and baked potatoes did not need to be busy with the cook, and the soldiers passed through the potatoes with bayonets, and they did not even need to be cleaned, they were roasted directly on the campfire, and when they were cooked, they were eaten directly— Only some non-commissioned officers carefully peel the potatoes or leave them in water before roasting.

The officers did not dine with the soldiers, they had their own tents, and the meals were richer and more elaborate than those of the soldiers, and Vauban introduced the king into the tent, and the king used his silver cutlery—the king turned over the back of a fork and found that there was a small coat of arms engraved on it, well, Vauban did not have his own coat of arms now— Vauban 's grandfather was also a lord and had his own castle, but because of the law of primogeniture, Vauban was only the second son's father who could only stay away from his homeland and start with his own mind and hands, Vauban was able to become a lieutenant in the army, and he also ran out of money - but since the king was going to use Vauban , he would not be ignorant of him, and the coat of arms on it was not Vauban's family, Vauban noticed the king's gaze, "A gift." He said unashamedly that the king was smiling, and that for this ambitious young man it might be a trivial trophy, which he used without care, on the battlefield.

It was impossible for the king, not even for Viscount Tyrrenne and Captain Vauban to get together with the soldiers to eat and drink, but the king still tasted the "porridge soup" Let the picky people taste it, this porridge soup is not only greasy, but also rough (caused by the wheat grains and beans inside), the carrots are required by the king to be put in, because at this time people often suffer from night blindness due to lack of vitamin A, he does not want his soldiers to become blind at night, but after the carrots are cooked, the taste and touch are really flattering, occasionally you can eat a little cured meat, but it is also similar to sawdust, and there is, also by the king's order, this porridge soup is added with enough salt, so- It's salty.

But this would increase the strength of the soldiers, and it was the reason why the king was unanimously praised for his generosity— France also has its own salt production, mainly in the Mediterranean and Brittany, so the price of salt is not as expensive as in the pure inland areas, but it is not something that ordinary people can squander at will, some families only add a lot of salt to the first meal in the morning, because the next day, the men have to go to work, without salt there is no strength, and in the evening the taste of a meal becomes dull, but in the king's army, not to mention salt, they can even eat sugar.

The king was in moderation in the evenings, and Captain Vauban and Viscount Tyrrenne ate several plates of roasted potatoes, soup and cheese, and roasted quail—fresh, for the soldiers had caught them when they had set up their tents, as well as snakes, rabbits, and moles.

After a brief meal, the king went to the camp for the wounded, for the wounded soldiers had remained in Lille, so the tent was still empty, and only one of the soldiers who had been bitten by the snake was being treated by the witch—in fact the treatment had been interrupted or finished when they entered, and the king guessed the uneasy look of the bohemian woman, and the ring of sparkling salt beside the bed— Salt is not a rare thing in the army, but it is impossible to be wasted at will, but salt has an irreplaceable role in witchcraft, mainly to remove evil and filth, snake venom can also be regarded as a kind of filth, and salt is indeed a good way.

Just by looking at the soldier's ruddy complexion, he was even able to stand up and salute the king.