Brussels, Belgium.

It was once one of the most prosperous commercial cities in Europe and was once the fastest growing region outside of Luxembourg.

However, with the beginning of the Luxembourg War, Belgium lost a large part of its territory, the entire Flemish region was recovered by the Dutch, and West Luxembourg returned to Luxembourg, and Namur and Liège became the Duchy of Liège.

Four-fifths of the country was lost, and the remaining one-fifth became a French protectorate.

King Louis Philippe of France had to be considerate of face when he was still in power, after all, King Leopold I of Belgium was his son-in-law.

Those officials in France didn't dare to mess around just for the sake of the eldest princess's face, but at this time, at that time.

Having lost access to the sea, Belgium is completely dependent on the French market, and the French clearly do not want the Belgians to earn this money.

What France needs is a market, cheap labor.

Coupled with the effects of the economic crisis, Belgian national enterprises have closed down in large numbers, workers have lost their jobs massively, and agriculture has become even more bleak.

Belgium is one of the countries most affected by late potato blight in Europe, and there have been many cases of near-no harvest due to natural and man-made disasters.

The industry is withering and the people are not living, this is the most suitable word for Belgium at this time.

To add insult to injury, after the fall of the Orleans dynasty, the French Provisional Government chose to be completely unfavorable.

What used to be just unequal tariff agreements and trade barriers, by this time the tax officers of the Provisional Government of France were ready to take over the tax office.

Even more excesses were the so-called French advisers, whom Leopold I had never hired but who had effectively taken over the Brussels Parliament.

These people did not regard Leopold I and his staff as human beings at all, and not only wanted to completely empty them, but even openly claimed that they would also carry out a great revolution in Brussels, so that Belgium would accept the advanced ideas of France.

The most important thing is that these people are not just talking, they are really recruiting people to carry out a coup d'état.

In the royal palace of Brussels, Leopold I opened the corner of the curtain, and the sun shone on his somewhat pale face.

He hadn't left the palace for a long time, and for no particular reason he was simply under house arrest.

Even the Belgian palace guard was forcibly disbanded, and Leopold I acquiesced in the actions of the French Provisional Government commissioner.

No way, it's stronger than people.

Gone are the bustling, bustling streets outside the palace, replaced by countless slogans and messes of France.

The tall and burly French officials had serious faces, and they were uniformly dressed in dark blue uniforms with tricolor emblems on their chests, giving them a sense of indesperation.

These people are even more arrogant, and although they are also French-speaking locals, these guys do not consider the Belgians to be their own, but only as second-class citizens, or French-speaking monkeys.

The French were ruthless in collecting taxes, both those who could afford them and those who couldn't, they were treated as prisoners.

They often break into merchants' shops, factories, and even homes to search or arrest those they find suspicious.

The French are not soft on those who are dissatisfied or who try to resist. The huge open-air prison outside Brussels at this time is the best proof of this.

Those caught there were either directly executed, and the corpse wilderness was set an example; Either they refused to confess their guilt and were imprisoned until death in an open-air prison; Either go to the mine to atone for your sins in order to survive until one day you are exhausted to death, or you are buried deep in the ground due to an accident.

(It has been talked about many times in the book, and the general environment of the mine at this time will not be repeated here.) ）

Life is not easy, coupled with the rampant expropriation of this group of people. The merchants complained, and the common people were miserable.

They organized themselves and protested to the government to demand the expulsion of these outrageous Frenchmen.

However, at this time, the Belgian government had basically lost its functions, and the original Belgian army was also incorporated into the Foreign Legion by the French.

The Belgians are not bloodless, they have tried everything from kidnappings and assassinations to large-scale uprisings.

Belgium, however, is too small for the French behemoth.

Leopold I looked out the window at the mess, and he made a decision. Leopold I, dressed up, walked straight out the door.

"Your Majesty, we cannot let you go without the order of the Commissioner. Thank you for your understanding. ”

Leopold I looked at the soldier who had sworn allegiance to him, and he simply walked straight out.

Leopold I was born in the military and had been a king (Grand Duke) for so many years, so he naturally formed a kind of high-ranking momentum.

The soldier unconsciously took two steps back, and by the time he came to his senses, Leopold I had already walked some distance.

The soldier had admired Leopold I, who had liberated Belgium, but by this time he had joined the French and became an officer of the French Foreign Legion.

Although he also spoke French, he had to join the Foreign Legion, after all, he was only a Belgian, but he was still proud.

At this point, he raised his rifle and aimed it at his former idol.

The former boy finally succumbed to the feet of the demon called reality, and his dreams died when he faced a million German allies, when the French ran amok in Belgium, when his wife left him, when he faced his own child who was waiting to be fed.

"Stop! Otherwise I'll shoot!."

Leopold I only glanced back at the young man who had been raised by his own hand with pity, and then strode out.

The soldier who had sworn allegiance to Leopold I was now the captain officer of the French Foreign Legion, his eyes widened in disbelief as his comrade who had been with him every day was stabbing himself in the stomach with a knife.

With the appearance of Leopold I on the balcony of the royal palace, this scene was repeated throughout the royal palace.

Soon a cannon salute exploded over the palace, and the lifeless city seemed to come alive again.

The Belgians began to attack the formidable French officials and their dog-legged men, with guns, with knives, with clubs, with stones, with their teeth and fists, with everything they could use.

Men and women, young and old, whenever, wherever they were, the Belgians in the capital, Brussels, began to attack the French in a frenzy.

Gunshots and explosions rang out incessantly, and Leopold I just stood on the balcony of the royal palace and watched it all.

At first, the Belgians did catch the French off guard, but the name of the French Foreign Legion was not covered.

These professional soldiers quickly organized a counterattack, and the Belgians had to pay several times more to kill a "Frenchman".

He understood that if he did not resist, Belgium would deserve to perish, and his people would deserve to be slaves of the French.

"French? Don't you like revolutions? Then I'll show you! ”

(End of chapter)