"That's great. By the way, I need your help with a little thing." Alphonse smiled and continued: "I have two friends renting at the Calais House Hotel. One is Zhu.

Miss Leah Hendrick is still living there, and the other one is Mr. Lieutenant de Vigeri, who just left yesterday. I have reserved their rooms. They can come anytime.

Check in."

"It's nothing, I'll notify someone to take care of it right away." Francis didn't even ask about the rent. He just gave 6,000 livres and booked two private rooms for a year. It's really hard to imagine him.

Will default on my rent...

Alphonse blinked at An inaudibly, and An immediately understood that when she was going to visit Julia tomorrow, she could stop by Riet de Vigeri's old room and take a look.

Catch the waiter and question her, threaten her with saying she has lost something, and you can immediately find out everything about Riet de Vergeri's stay at the Calais House for the past few days!

However, Alphonse had no idea that the situation of Riet de Vigery at this time was really not that optimistic: Riet de Vigery, who left Calais early yesterday morning, did not return to Paris immediately, but

I made a special trip to visit the Manor Maule and stayed for one night before saying goodbye and returning to Paris;

It was almost six o'clock in the evening when he arrived in Paris, so Riet de Vigeri did not go back to his official residence, but went to his lover's house. One was to see the beauty in his arms, and the other was to see that he had just been born.

However, before he could finish his drink and have sex with his lover, Louis XIV's military attaché, Fabian Mahersha, led his men to arrest him from his lover's house and took him directly to a prison in a certain tower.

Get up!

What is the greatest torture for a person? Insult? Beaten? Abuse? None, it is waiting to die. In the process of waiting for death, the strong desire to survive and the opposite feeling of powerlessness and despair will crazily torture the person's nerves, eventually leading to...

Without the actual death penalty, many people scared themselves to death or drove themselves crazy.

Riet de Vigeri encountered such a situation. There was no interrogation, no torture, and he didn't even know what mistake he had made. He was detained in this hellish place and awaited his final fate...

The "clang" sound of the door opening startled Rie de Vigeri. The poor Sir was trembling and unable to stand up from the ground. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Fabian Mahsha who was walking toward him.

I can’t say anything to beg for mercy.

"Liège de Vigeri?" Fabian Mahesh's unique aquiline nose made his face look even more sinister.

"Yes...yes, sir, I...I didn't know that I made a big mistake. Please, please give me a chance..." Riet de Vigeri couldn't stand up, so he fell to his knees on the ground.

Crying and begging for mercy.

"A big mistake? What a big mistake? Did you accept a bribe?" Fabian Mahesh's words made Riet de Vigeri even a little confused!

"If...if I didn't make a mistake, you...why did you bring me here?" Rieux de Vigeri asked in confusion.

"Weren't you ordered to go to Calais to deal with the artillery workshop? Why didn't you hide it when you returned to Paris after being there for many days?" Fabian Mahesh's words made Lieutenant de Vigery even more confused.

"I did go to Calais. I have been here for many days to investigate the artillery workshop. I just returned to Paris tonight. I was supposed to report to Count Colbert at the residence tomorrow, but I was detained by Your Excellency.

Come here!" Rie de Vigeri stood up suddenly and said: "I also want to ask you why you want to imprison me here!"

"If Count Colbert hadn't asked me to keep an eye on your schedule and take you to see him as soon as possible, I wouldn't have known who you were." Fabian Mahesh said angrily.

"Your Majesty the Count? Your Majesty the Count asked you to pay attention to my itinerary, not to restrict my freedom!" Rieux de Vigeri said loudly: "I want to see the Lord Count, and I want to see you now!"

"It just so happens that both your Majesty and the Earl want to see you now." Fabian Mahsha pointed to the door.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty?" Now it was Rie de Vigeri's turn to be confused again...

When he followed Fabian Machia to a certain room in the Louvre, Lieutenant de Vigeri discovered that there were more people here than he had imagined: King Louis XIV of France, and his brother Philippe, Duke of Anjou.

The prince, the king's steward Mengoul, the personal attendant Bondan, the king's censor Bellisson, the Duke of Letelier, and the Count of Colbert!

"Salute to you, Your Majesty." Riet de Vergery bowed quickly and said, and from the corner of his eye, he just caught a glimpse of a servant coming to the calendar and turning a page, and the clock also rang at this time, Riet?

De Vigeri recorded this historic day and time for him: at midnight on August 10, 1662!

"Sir Virgery? How was your visit to Calais?" Louis XIV looked at Rière with his hands behind his back and asked.

"Your Majesty, this trip went well. Before I went to Calais, I really couldn't believe that such a company could appear in such a remote place." Rieux glanced back at Count Colbert, and continued to speak lowly.

He turned his head and replied: "But when I got there, I found that half of the ships were serving such a workshop."

"Half of the sea ships?" Belisson, the king's censor next to him, laughed: "First of all, how many sea ships are there in total? Three or four?"

"Every day, more than ten ships come and go in the port, Your Excellency, and half of them are merchant ships of more than 200 tons." Rieux replied: "There are at least two ships providing raw materials for the workshop every day, including copper ore.

stone, tin ore and coal, and two ships took away a batch of rapid-fire cannons from the port for sale in various countries;

In addition, various building materials and equipment are shipped by ship to provide raw materials for the expansion of the workshop, and more merchant ships come from afar to seek agency rights for artillery. This is a booming enterprise.

”

"If he didn't sell the artillery to the Spanish, it would be a good enterprise." Louis XIV put a damper on Rieux's heart with one sentence: "You probably don't know that before you go to Canada

On the way to Lai, the Spanish and the British started a small-scale war at sea."

"Let me tell you the specific situation." Bellison said with a smile: "On August 3, the Spanish treasure ship Sea Pearl was attacked by a large force of British privateers near the Soya Islands, but the Spanish relied on the latest

The rapid-fire guns equipped with it achieved the victory of three three-masted sailing ships and three sloops. The British suffered heavy losses, and then retaliated by plundering Spanish merchant ships at sea.

As a result, the Spanish navy took the initiative to counterattack, using a large number of frigates equipped only with rapid-fire guns to massacre British privateers at sea. As of today, the British have lost at least twenty ships."

Rieux's eyes widened immediately. He had killed twenty British ships in just a few days? Although most of them were small ships, and he killed at least 6 ships on the first day, he still maintained more than 2 ships every day.

With the number of ships sunk and captured, the total number of ships damaged or pursued may reach more than fifty. Are the Spaniards crazy?

"The British seem to be preparing for a full-scale war with the Spanish, but the UK and the Netherlands are still dirty at present. I think this is a good opportunity for us." Count Colbert thought for a while and said: "We also need to strengthen the navy."

"My lord, what do you think?" Louis XIV looked at Duke Letelier and asked.

"Quick-firing artillery is a product of our country. I think it is worth supporting for the trouble it brings to the hateful British; but if it brings great help to the Spanish at the same time, it is not so wonderful for us."

Duke Letelier thought for a moment, then looked at Riet and asked:

"The best result is naturally to sell to each enemy within a certain limit, so that they can gain limited support, and then pay the price to each other. Weijili, what is the result of your investigation? Is this workshop worth investing in?

Can you accept our management and restrict orders from Spanish people?"

"Alphonse de Moller, the workshop owner, is very easy to talk to. One of my cousins ​​is his brother's new wife. Before returning to Paris, I made a special trip to visit my cousin and Sir Moller.

; They all claimed that Mr. Alphonse was very talkative and had just entrusted his brother to help hire 20 reliable workers with a monthly salary of 20 livres.

If nothing else, it should be preparing for the artillery workshop, which shows that he needs an investment very much." Rieux thought for a while and then said: "As for the Spanish order, I think he will consider it carefully.

Before that, I also saw Benjamin Hawkins from England visiting his house."

"Benjamin Hawkins?" Bellisson said with a joking smile: "This time, Britain's biggest sufferer was him. Six ships were sunk by the Sea Pearl. Maybe he wanted to add orders to curb the expansion of the Spanish."<

/p>

"Didn't our navy purchase this kind of rapid-fire cannon?" Louis XIV suddenly frowned, looked at Mengoul and asked: "Have you seen the relevant information submitted by the Duke of Beaufort?"
p>

"No, Your Majesty." Meng Guer bowed and replied.

"I heard that the Duke of La Rochefoucauld purchased four rapid-fire cannons to equip the dragoons, but the Duke believed that this weapon was not very suitable for the army." Bellisson took up the topic and added: "I remember the Duke

The original words are as follows:

Frankly speaking, I don't really approve of this artillery. If it fires more than 12 rounds in a row, it may explode, and it has to stop for 1-2 minutes to cool down; and after the range exceeds 30 meters, the impact points are almost scattered and unsightly, but it is said that this gun

The cannon is used to suppress pirates on the side of the ship, and it should be quite effective."

"So, this artillery is not good enough for war?" Louis XIV's brows gradually relaxed.

"At least that's the case for now. Although this rapid-fire gun fires 9-pound grape bullets with a 6-pound caliber, in fact, the 9-pound grape bullets only have 12 bullets. The impact point is almost invisible over 30 meters, while the range of the gun is

When it reaches more than 200 meters, unless the pirates pick up the ship, it will be difficult to have room for rapid-fire cannons." Belisson said with a smile.

"As a mere commodity, what is its value?" Since the shortcomings of the rapid-fire cannon were so great, Louis XIV naturally was not too worried that such artillery would greatly boost the Spanish national power.

"The ex-factory price of this rapid-fire gun is 45 livres. The profit of a single gun is 30%. The output can reach 500 guns per month by the end of the month at the latest, and the monthly net profit will be more than 6,000 livres." Rieux quickly replied.

Tao.
Chapter completed!