Chapter 76 Look, let me tell you, the artillery in Calais must be the best! (First order requested)

A few days later, in an open space near the Royal Forest of Versailles Palace, three artillery pieces were lined up and neatly placed.

"Your Majesty, look, this is the latest 16-pound artillery piece cast by my artillery workshop. It is made of fine copper, with a total length of 2.4 fathoms and a total weight of 4650 pounds. It is definitely a first-rate divine cannon and the most important weapon of the country!"

A white-faced man with a curly mustache boasted about his cannon next to Louis XIV, but to be honest, such a shining golden fine-cast copper cannon was placed between two dull and gray iron cannons.

, he is naturally the handsome guy that everyone is watching!

"The artillery of the Duke of Mazarin looks really good." Louis XIV, as a person of appearance, immediately confirmed this golden cannon.

The man next to Louis XIV is the current largest arms dealer in France, Duke of Mazarin, Armand Charles de la Porte de la Mayeret. This man is the number one in the Paris aristocratic circle.

Weird: First, because he is the richest man in France, and second, because he is the most stingy in France...

"Sir Vauban, which one of these is your masterpiece?" Louis XIV looked at the royal engineer Vauban who was a few steps behind him. Today, in order to verify Alphonse's artillery, he not only took the Duke Mazarin's new cannon,

Cannon for comparison, and also asked Vauban to preside over the reproduction of Alphonse's cannon.

"That's the door on the right. It's really not a masterpiece. I'm just picking up on someone else's wisdom." Vauban replied with a bit of a wry smile. He had never cast such a thin cannon, and he was really worried about it exploding.
p>

"Everyone is here?" Louis XIV walked up to the prepared stand, looked at Duke Letelier beside him and asked with a smile. The life of aristocrats is very boring, so in order to trap these aristocrats in Paris, Louis XIV

Today's cannon test was treated as a strange show, and almost all the nobles in Paris were invited to visit.

"We are basically here, Your Majesty. Everyone is eager to see how powerful the country is now!" Duke Letelier quickly replied. He also understood that Louis XIV still had the idea of ​​using artillery to intimidate the nobles, but now

The aristocratic power is still deep-rooted. A successful test will not scare anyone, but a failure will probably cause a lot of humiliation!

"What do you think?" Princess Condé looked at the Duchess of Montpensier sitting next to her and asked with a smile. At this time, Annemarie was holding a theater glass and carefully observing the three artillery pieces!

"Of course it's the artillery of the Duke of Mazarin. All fools know that the old guy, Duke Letelier, is going to make a fool of himself today!" Anne-Marie replied with a bit of excitement, whether it was Alphonse's artillery or Vauban's.

The imitation cannons look like green leaves used as a foil for Duke Mazarin's cannons.

"Dear gentlemen and madams, good morning!" At this time, Louis XIV cleared his throat and stood at the front of the stand and began his speech. Unfortunately, only a few people around him were listening to him.

Alas, even the Duke of Orleans, who was sitting behind him, looked quite disdainful.

"Which artillery piece does your Highness think is the best?" Belisson came over and asked in a low voice.

"Of course the artillery in Calais is the best," the Duke of Orleans replied without hesitation.

"Oh? Why? Everyone thinks that the artillery of Duke Mazarin is the best." Belisson asked with a smile.

"Look, this is the reason. Whatever you choose, I won't choose." The Duke of Orleans had a rebellious expression on his face.

"Isn't there still Lord Vauban's artillery?" Belisson asked again.

"Vauban is the person that the emperor likes. If he likes it, I don't like it. Is that okay?" the Duke of Orleans replied with a half-smile.

"Oh, of course, you are always wise." Belisson replied with a smile, and cursed a fool in his heart...

Soon, the test firing began. The guards piled up three piles of wooden boxes two hundred meters in front of the three cannons. The outer walls of these boxes were all 2 French inches (5.72 cm) thick. This is two hundred meters.

The thickness is so thick that even a 12-pounder can penetrate it, so as to avoid a rollover scene in which all three artillery pieces are exhausted!

But it was obvious that in such a big scene, if he really had diarrhea, Duke Mazarin would never dare to show up in person today! Soon, three artillery guns fired a salvo, blasting all three piles of boxes in front of him without hesitation.

Smashed to pieces!

"Okay! Great!" Louis XIV clapped vigorously, and the whole audience immediately began to applaud. Not to mention how powerful this artillery is, at least this scene is very good!

Since the first show was successful, it was natural to increase the number. Duke Letelier waved his hand, and the guards went up and began to rearrange the new boxes. This time, they were arranged two meters directly behind the previous pile of boxes; the thickness of the box was also

Switching to a 3 French inch (8.58 cm) gun, the 12-pounder can no longer penetrate two layers of thickness at the same time, and the Duke of Letelier could not help but sweat his palms!

Fortunately, in the new round of test firing, there are still no crotches. The three artillery can achieve the power of piercing the wooden box. The only embarrassment is that the artillery that Vauban imitated failed to explode like the other two.

It's like an artillery piece, that kind of explosion scene!

"This Mr. de Moller of Calais still has something. Of course, Sir Vauban is also quite good. In just a few days, he can imitate such a powerful artillery." Louis XIV turned back towards him.

Everyone laughed, but found that Vauban was already wiping cold sweat...

To be conservative, Duke Letelier made use of a 3.5-inch (10 cm) wooden box this time, and canceled the test firing of Vauban's cannon. After all, the last round of test firing was almost the same imitation cannon.

It's the limit. Trying to fire again will have no other chance but to be humiliating.

"Bang! Bang!" There were two explosions, and the two artillery pieces simultaneously blew up the pile of wooden boxes in front of them into the sky!

This time, the pressure is on Duke Mazarin. He has a 3,400-pound iron cannon, and he has a 4,650-pound bronze cannon. Their blasting capabilities are equally strong. Even a fool would choose the iron cannon!

"Your Majesty, why don't you increase the intensity?" After some thought, Duke Mazarin decided to take a different approach and walked towards Duke Letelier and whispered: "Try the 4.5 French-inch box. This is what the 24-pounder cannon can do."

The thickness of the shot penetrates; however, my artillery can hold a larger amount of gunpowder."

"What do you mean..." Duke Letelier frowned deeply. He used a 16-pounder cannon to explode the explosion effect of a 24-pounder cannon. It was naturally a show of force. The problem was that the charge was exceeded. What should I do if it exploded in a while?

?

"Believe me, Your Excellency, you will definitely be able to break through." Duke Mazarin wrote "2" directly on his palm, which meant that as long as Duke Letelier agreed to do this, he would offer 2,000 livres back!<

/p>

"If something goes wrong, you will bear the consequences." After all, it was money sent to the door. Duke Letelier had no reason to refuse, so he turned around and went down to explain. On this side, Duke Mazarin also started a new strategy.

: He found a guard, gave him 50 livres, and asked him to load 1.5 times the amount of gunpowder for Alphonse's cannon!

That's right, he not only wants his artillery to penetrate those thicker wooden boxes, but also blow up Alphonse's artillery. In this way, his artillery order will be foolproof!

Soon, a new test firing began. This time, what was piled in front of the cannon was no longer a box, but nine shields stacked on top of each other! Yes, nine shields, each one worth 1 magic weapon.

inch thickness, which adds up to a thickness of 25.74 centimeters! As a naval gun, if it can penetrate a board of this thickness at a distance of more than 200 meters, it is a qualified main artillery gun. After all, most hull shells cannot reach this thickness.

.

"The Duke is very confident?" Louis XIV was also a little curious about Duke Letelier's performance, but he didn't know that Duke Letelier was a broken man:

If the artillery is really as good as the Duke of Mazarin said, then it would not be much different if the wooden box was replaced with a shield; if the artillery is not as good as the Duke of Mazarin said, then it cannot blow up nine shields, but it will still save a few if it blows up seven or eight.

What a shame!

"Boom!" A huge cannon sound directly covered the sound of another cannon. The iron cannon loaded with 1.5 times the amount of gunpowder quickly shot out the cast iron shells, directly blowing the nine shields into pieces, and the shells were even plowed out of the ground.

What a long break!

"Look, let me tell you, it must be the artillery from Calais." The Duke of Orleans laughed and stood up first to applaud. Not to mention Bellisson, even Louis XIV looked a little embarrassed...

Duke Mazarin was even more stunned. Of course, his artillery also blew away nine shields, but compared to the iron cannon next to him, everyone could see the explosion effect! But what made him want to cry the most was

, this was the extra gunpowder he deliberately ordered to blow up Alphonse's cannon, but in the end, it didn't blow up...

The artillery didn't explode, but it naturally blew up the scene. The artillery order that Duke Mazarin originally wanted to fight for also went away. At least until he decided to reduce the price of the artillery to the same price as Alphonse, he couldn't get it.

Order!

After several days of waiting, Rie was finally summoned by Colbert again. He came to Colbert's desk with some anxiety, and Colbert handed him a document directly, and then continued to take it.

He picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and said while reviewing the documents:

"The investment has been approved. Just sign the contract with the workshop owner. Let's go as soon as possible. I have already asked the Duke to take credit for you."

"Sir, I will be promoted soon. This important task should be handed over to the next person in charge; of course, if necessary, I can accompany the new envoy to Calais as an assistant to assist in negotiations."

Without looking at the document, he put it back on the table and replied.

"Huh?" Colbert suddenly frowned. With just such a simple action by Rie, he felt keenly that Rie was clearly declining the task! Was his condition too harsh, or was it this?
Chapter completed!