Chapter 2271 Poseidon’s Winter Feast (13)

Shakespeare often wrote about the ocean. He described the complicated world as ebbing and flowing like the ocean.

There are some subtle differences in the artistic treatment of the ocean by Europeans. The Dutch like to use the accuracy recognized by cartography to depict the complex structure of large ships, just like painting a portrait of a ship. The scenery of the port and the storm beside the rocks enrich the expensive canvas.

Thousands of details are accommodated in a vast space.

In the eyes of the Spaniards, the ocean has been placed under the mother-like protection of the Virgin Mary. Maps, nautical charts, altar cloths, and church wall hangings are all decorated with patterns of the sea. The British like to paint majestic paintings.

The Royal Navy, the port, and the hectic moments of victory in complex naval battles. On the contrary, there are no paintings about the sea in France. Only Claude Laurent painted 13 landscape paintings about the harbor under the commission of Louis XV.

When Georgiana was admiring the oil paintings at Rubens' home, she had been thinking about when to find an opportunity to tell him to exchange Claude's paintings for Turner's paintings. At this time, Carolan came to tell her that the Dutch Minister of Magic Adrian

Mr. Van Rijn had arrived, and Georgiana went to the drawing-room to meet him.

There were once many Puritans in the Netherlands because it was a country with relative religious freedom. When the Protestants in the Spanish Netherlands were persecuted, some of them fled to the Netherlands. This made the Dutch people's clothing far less gorgeous than Catholics. In winter,

In order to resist the all-pervasive severe cold, people will wear a fur-trimmed robe on the outermost part. It is customary for wealthy people to try to avoid wearing things that show their wealthy status. Instead, they will spend a lot of money on residences and

Ingenuity, Mannerism, which is more ornate than Baroque, is very popular in the north.

In addition, there are tulips. Although tulip mania has passed for more than a hundred years, seeing a man covered in black holding a bouquet of red and white tulips made Georgiana think that the man standing in the center of the living room had neat hair.

The middle-aged man with curly hair and a mustache came out of a certain portrait.

"Good night, Madame Sèvres." Adrian said politely in French with a smile, and sent the tulips in his hand to her, "Eternal Augustus, dedicated to you and the First Consul of France."

Georgiana was a little confused, and Carolan coughed before calling her soul back.

"Thank you." She took the flowers and couldn't help but take a second look. After all, this is the "Eternal Augustus" that caused the tulip craze. Although people went crazy for it, not many people actually saw it.

It's quite surprising, isn't it? Most of the bulbs circulating on the "market" are ordinary bulbs, and the real "Forever Augustus" has never been traded.

"Put it in the carriage." Georgiana handed the flowers to Carolan, and then looked at Adrian, "Why didn't you come two days in advance."

"Obviously you've had a busy week, thank you for taking the time tonight, otherwise I would have had to go to Paris to visit." Adrian said.

"Please don't say that. Dinner is ready. Let's chat while eating." Georgiana said easily. Adrian took off his cloak. He was wearing a tight vest and looked a little thin.

He held an ornate dagger, and it was impossible to tell where he hid his wand.

Then they came to the restaurant. She prepared a table of dishes, including British, French and Dutch cheese snacks. It was a bit too much for two people, so she called Carolan over and sat down to eat together.

Leonardo da Vinci's mural "The Last Supper" depicts an eel. It is a delicacy, but it is a fasting dish, not to mention the dining table of the priests' canteen, and even the dining tables of the laity.

There shouldn't be any. This rule no longer existed in the court of Louis XIV. People began to pursue taste and deliciousness, and no one even remembered fasting.

Because there is fasting, herrings sell particularly well during fasting. Eating seafood is not considered eating meat. Amsterdam was originally a small fishing village, with fishing for North Sea fish as its main income. No one in the Middle Ages could have imagined that it would one day become world-famous.

harbor.

The Ministry of Magic of the Netherlands is located in Utrecht, which has a history of 2,000 years. It was first built as a military fortress by the Romans to protect the mouth of the Rhine River and began to flourish in the 17th century.

During the Nika riots, there was a nobleman who was pulled out of his home by the people, dragged to the racing track, and crowned with a gold bracelet as a crown. This emperor later disappeared from history. Georgiana originally thought that William III was a similar person.

.

If he was really that kind of king, he would not use his veto power in front of the parliament that had just completed the Glorious Revolution.

This is also the difference between the Queen and the King. The Queen cannot refuse. Even if the Parliament wants to remove her, she can only sign the document. But she has a privilege, that is, no one can slander or slander her.

The Dutch way of identifying witches is to use scales. They believe that whether they are witches or wizards, they will fly because they are too light, so you'd better be a fat man.

Of course we wouldn't talk about something so depressing during the meal, so Adrian asked about the Calais meeting.

That meeting determined the dividing line between Britain and France. In fact, Rabastan was so anxious to set up wooden stakes on land that he suffered a loss. Since the time of Queen Elizabeth, Britain has attached great importance to sea power. It is important to maintain control of the English Channel.

The national policy was to build a fleet precisely in order to control the English Channel and gain an advantage in the commercial conflicts of the Dutch.

The republic formed by Cromwell followed the style of Queen Elizabeth, but the situation faced was different from that of the past. The Spanish also needed to reach the Spanish Netherlands through the English Channel. After experiencing the Anglo-Spanish War and the Austrian War in the 16th century,

After the Siege of Stend, Britain gave up plundering on the high seas and entered a period of contraction, turning to a more professional and strengthened navy, while Spain and the Netherlands were at war with each other on land.

It is precisely because of this that the Republic Navy established by Cromwell was able to defeat the Dutch navy. The Dutch victory in the Second Anglo-Dutch War was also because the Netherlands spent their energy on the navy and ignored the army. By the time of the Third Anglo-Dutch War

During the war, the French faced a fortress defense line that was in disrepair.

According to Adrian, he seems to be planning to draw the "demarcation line" to the national boundary of the Dutch Republic. The founding of Belgium is now gone, let alone the Ministry of Magic.

Georgiana preferred to draw the border on the Scheldt River, but who would be responsible for the affairs of this area?

It's possible that this was Rabastan's idea again, but it's not just a matter of determining the border line. How many Obscursions and Obscursals are there in the Netherlands?

To establish the Belgian Ministry of Magic, you must first find Belgian wizards. Generally speaking, wizards like to live in groups. How difficult is it to find those wizards who live in swamps and primeval forests.

She turned the topic to the question of children going to school. Why didn't Dutch wizards go to Hogwarts?

"In 1735, the English Parliament passed the Witchcraft Act. Madam, after the Witchcraft Act was passed, the number of people accused of witchcraft increased." Adrian said.

"What?" Georgiana asked in surprise.

"There used to be witch hunts in England, but that was during the civil war, and there were private courts. If the king didn't recognize the existence of witches, he couldn't accuse witchcraft, and there would be no witchcraft laws and trials," Ah.

Derrian explained, "Britain adopts case law. Without precedent, you cannot follow precedent. It is precisely because of the Witchcraft Act and the original precedent that the number of people accused of witchcraft has increased, and what's worse is that

If the judge who created the original precedent makes a wrong judgment, he will create more wrong precedents. In other words, if he is wrong at the beginning, he will only make more mistakes. It is better not to start with this, witchcraft.

The bill prohibits claiming that someone knows witchcraft and defines witchcraft as a deceptive act to deceive others."

"What's the problem?" Carolan asked Adrian.

Adrian didn't answer, he looked at Georgiana.

"That means the witch hunts are still going on," said Georgiana. "Wizard parents feel that Britain is not a safe country."

"There is also the goblin rebellion. I heard that the goblins have set their headquarters in Hogsmeade, which is very far away from Hogwarts. Students will also go to the village." Adrian said, "I know that Hogsmeade

Gwarts is the safest place in the world, but we are sending our children to study abroad to increase their horizons, and we cannot let them stay in the castle all the time."

"I know." Georgiana said clearly.

"I didn't go out when I was in Beauxbatons," said Carolan. "The surroundings were virgin forests, or there were some small villages."

"But you know it's a Muggle village." Georgiana said, "Hogsmeade is an all-wizard village."

"So what?" Carolan asked confused.

"When you relax your vigilance, the danger is more deadly." Georgiana said, "Especially a group of children without adult protection and danger awareness, so the school requires parents to sign a consent form to go to Hogsmeade."

Harry thought it was nothing big and wanted Minerva to sign it for him. Who would be responsible if something happened to him?

In the past, there were students who forged their parents' signatures. Fortunately, they were found out before the incident happened, and this person was none other than Sirius Black.

His mother threatened him not to sign, but he was completely disobedient. Later, he found that it was impossible to go to Hogsmeade through the formal way, so he went around the school looking for secret passages with James Potter.

"We also need a consent form when leaving school," Carolan said.

"Let's eat, the food is almost cold." Georgiana said to the Dutch Minister of Magic with a smile.

Adrien kept praising how delicious tonight's meal was, even though he didn't know that she hadn't cooked it.
Chapter completed!