Orleans has not yet been affected by the chaos, and despite the efforts of the nobles of the High Court of Paris, Duke Gaston (younger brother of Louis XIII) has remained neutral to this day, i.e. he has neither leaned towards the side of the Slingers (the nobility of the High Court of Paris and the military chiefs headed by the Prince of Condé, who also had different dreams) nor explicitly expressed their support for the king (although everyone, including the Slings, declared their allegiance to the king, Louis XIV clearly did not see it that way). He has been careful to maintain a balance between the two, waiting for the situation to change.

Frank spent two days in Orleans, looking for some acquaintances or gentlemen to find out the news, and finally brought back the unsurprising bad news to Contin: "The king, the queen mother, and others have long fled from Paris, because the citizens of Paris have rioted at the instigation of the nobles, and some have even proposed to follow the example of England, fearing that they too will end up with King Charles, and the king, under the protection of the loyal guards, has fled elsewhere." As for the specific location, it seems that it was in Jion a while ago, but I don't know if it's still there......"

Contine was not surprised by the news that Frank had brought with him, as they had already heard so much about Paris and the royal family along the way. For example, the judges of the High Court (the aristocracy) actually took charge of the central city of France; For example, the local officials and soldiers were also divided into two factions, and although they did not develop into a full-scale civil war, they were also quite dangerous; The king and the queen fled in a hurry, and they recalled Prime Minister Mazaran, who had been exiled under pressure from the nobility, and the prime minister himself came to join the king with an army of 7,000 men recruited from his own wealth, and so on.

"But I don't go to Gion now, where it is very chaotic right now, the Spanish army, the troops of Prince Condé are pursuing the royal army, and the fighting between the two sides is taking place almost every day. From time to time, some nobles who opposed the king joined the combined forces of Condé and Spain. Sometimes there were gentlemen who opposed foreign invaders who resolutely joined the king's side, and in any case it was dark there, and we passed. There is only a 1% chance of successfully meeting the King and Mazaran, and a 99% chance of dying halfway through. So, we need to think rationally about our next move......"

There is no one who can call the shots in France now! Hearing this, Condin was very depressed, the king fled from Paris, the Prince of Condé colluded with the Spaniards to invade the mother country, the local nobility hated the king because of the loss of privileges, and the influence of the English regicides continued to spread to France, and now the country is really terrible!

"So, will the High Court of Justice in Paris be able to make a decision to lower import duties on goods from the East Coast?" Condin still had some hope for the aristocratic group, which actually controlled the situation in Paris. He thought that since he couldn't meet the king's relationship, it would be a great achievement of the trip to meet these nobles and find a way to reduce the high tariffs that stuck the necks of industrial products on the east coast.

"It's impossible, the local authorities won't admit it!" Frank said bluntly, "Although this body has the power to veto the untimely tax rate proposed by the king, it does not have the power to set the tax rate, and what is moreover, there is no consensus on this group of people at the local level, and it is basically impossible." Again. Bordeaux and even the whole of Gascony are still under the control of the Prince of Condé, but they obviously won't bother us unless we can help him solve a big problem. ”

"What kind of big trouble?" Condin then asked.

"For example, military pay." Frank was quick to answer as well. But then he added: "But the Prince of Condé is not in Bordeaux at the moment, and he is still fighting outside, as are La Rochefoucauld and others." But only they can make decisions about such a heavy matter, so ......"

"So we're going back to Bordeaux?" Condin felt a little pain in his head. Now that the French were at war and the place was in turmoil, some news had been so slow that they had reached the left side of Paris only to learn that the king had fled. Mazaran had also led his army back to the "King of Qin", and won several victories in battles with the Spanish and Condé coalition forces. gave the royal family, who were constantly in exile, a little respite.

"Let's go back, and we'll find a way to get in touch with the Slingers. Let's see if there is any turning point in the shape shì. Frank was also a little frustrated, this trip to the north was a wasted run.

Condin silently pondered Frank's construction. If the men of the Prince of Condé are victorious, which at the time seems to be more promising, become the new masters of Paris, then perhaps the people of the East Coast will have the opportunity to change the policy of Mazarin, which is concerned with the protection of domestic industrial development, and then destroy the embryonic artisanal workshops of France with cheap industrial goods, and reoccupy this huge market of more than 20 million people. Of course, maybe the newcomers will continue to implement high tariffs to protect their own industries, but how do you know without giving it a try? Prince Condé's troops had always been poorly paid, and if the people on the east coast were able to impress them with a silver bullet offensive, it might not be impossible to succeed.

"Okay, I think it's better to go back, there's no need to stay here longer. Paris is in such chaos now that we may not be able to achieve anything even if we pass it......" Condin nodded in agreement with Frank's proposal, in fact he wanted to stay here for a month or two longer, to see how the smuggled goods were being sold in various places on the east coast, and to meet some smuggler owners if possible. It's just that now that Frank is by his side, and he can't get rid of him, he has to give up.

On 1 January 1652, the group left Orleans and drove again in a carriage to the port of Nantes, where they were to return to Bordeaux. The return to Bordeaux was relatively smooth, but when their ship entered the port, Frank and the others heard that a British ship had also arrived here.

It is not news that British ships arrived in Bordeaux, as Bordeaux is a large port, and it is common for British merchants to come to trade, but this time the incident is well known, or because there are several cronies of Cromwell, the "monarchicide", on this ship. They came to Bordeaux mainly to negotiate with the Prince of Condé and his men - this had already been reported in Bordeaux last year, and now that the British had come for the second time, could it be that the Prince of Condé intended to establish a republic in France, or did he intend to join the British side to restrain the arrogant Dutch merchants? No one can tell the truth.

It is true that the Dutch are hated in Europe today, whether it is England, France, or Spain, they are very poorly perceived. Among them, the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands, which was determined to develop industry and commerce, was probably the worst, fishery disputes, textile industry disputes, shipping disputes, salt disputes, etc., the British wanted to rise, and they had to challenge the Dutch dominance in almost every field, which could no longer be resolved through negotiations, or must be resolved by the old way, that is, by fists on the battlefield.

Of course, the British are not fools, and they themselves are well aware of how strong the Dutch are. Therefore, the British today urgently need more allies, such as France, which can pose a direct threat to the Netherlands from the land, is a very good target to woo, for this reason, even if it is necessary to coordinate some of the important interests and work with them against the Spaniards, in short, the Dutch must be pushed to break the economic shackles imposed on England.

A possible war between Britain and the Netherlands, even in the East Coast Republic, was a serious event that would affect national decision-making. How exactly the East Coast Republic of China needs to operate in order to be able to seize its own interests to the greatest extent is a matter that tests the wisdom of those in power. In their diplomatic guidance to the European Plenipotentiary Envoy Mo San, they have always stressed that the east coast should "strictly maintain neutrality" and not be drawn into war, but they can find a way to take advantage of this opportunity to sign some trade agreements with the Dutch and obtain some substantial benefits.

However, now that France may also be drawn into the war, then the east coast will have to make a new plan! Although he heard that two "10 August" class double-deck battleships and a few sail frigates and sail auxiliary ships had been launched on the east coast this year, all of which seemed to have been built by the navy with privateer revenue, the total number of naval ships was only about 50 (excluding river gunboats), of which only about 70 or 80 percent were combat ships, and their strength was not very advantageous compared with the old European countries. Therefore, if you want to grab your own interests in this Anglo-Dutch war, which is inevitable in the eyes of discerning people, it is impossible not to plan in advance.

On January 20, 1652, after waiting for the Prince of Condé and others to return, Condin simply left Bordeaux and went to Livorno by ship near Montpellier. Not long after he arrived in Montpellier, the Doria family, who had a lot of experience in Spain, sent someone to quietly inform Condin that the Almeida family's trade house in Lisbon had demonstrated an interesting gadget a while ago, a small machine that burned wood to make the boiler produce steam to push the connecting rods. Although this demonstration failed not long after it began, and the whole machine leaked air and the strength was so small that it was not enough to pump water, it was extremely expensive and useless. However, under the rendering of all kinds of magical legends about the steam engine on the east coast, this time the real yàn still attracted the attention of some well-intentioned people, at least some people have begun to summarize the reasons for their failure.

The Doria family told Condin with a playful look: "Fortunately, this is in Lisbon, where people like pompous, extravagant, and beautiful things, and very few people are interested in such dirty little machines." Otherwise, a lot of things might happen that are very bad for the people of the East Coast......" Contin's back was immediately wet with sweat. (To be continued)