Orleans has not been affected by chaos. Although the nobles of the Paris High Court tried to win over, the Duke Gaston (Louis XIII's younger brother) still remained neutral, that is, he neither tended to be the party of the Stones (the aristocratic group of the Paris High Court and the military leader headed by Prince Condé, both of them also had the same dreams), nor did he clearly expressed his support for the king (although everyone, including the Stones, expressed his loyalty to the king, but Louis XIV obviously did not think so). He had been careful to maintain a balance between the two, waiting for the situation to change. n∈

Frank spent two days in Orleans, and found some familiar business partners or gentlemen to find out the news, and finally brought back an unexpected bad news to Contin: "The King, the Queen Mother and others had long escaped from Paris, because the Parisian citizens started to riot under the instigation of the nobles, and some people even proposed to follow the example of Britain, worried that they would also end up with Charlie, the King, who was protected by the loyal guards, fled elsewhere. As for the specific location, it seemed that he was in Ji'ang a while ago, but I don't know if he is still there..."

Contin was not surprised by the news brought by Frank, because they had heard too much about Paris and the royal family along the way. For example, the judges of the High Court (nobles) actually controlled the central city of France; for example, local officials and soldiers were also divided into two factions, although they did not develop to the level of a full-scale civil war, but they were quite dangerous; for example, the king and the queen mother fled in a hurry, and they recalled Prime Minister Mazaran, who was exiled due to the pressure of the nobles. The Prime Minister himself brought an army of 7,000 people recruited by his own wealth to join the king, which was so different.

"But I don't recommend going to Ji'ang now. It's very chaotic. The Spanish army and Prince Conde's troops are pursuing the royal army. Fights between the two sides happen almost every day. From time to time, some nobles who oppose the king join the Conde, the Spanish coalition, and sometimes some gentlemen who oppose foreign invaders resolutely join the king's camp. In short, there are battles that are so dark that we go there. The chance of successfully meeting the king and Mazaran is only 1%, while the chance of dying halfway is as high as 99%. Therefore, we must think rationally about the next action..."

Co-condemn now has no one to decide! Hearing this, Contin was very depressed. The king fled out of Paris, Prince Conde colluded with the Spaniards to invade his mother country, local nobles hated the king because of losing their privileges, and the influence of British regicides continued to spread to France. Now this country is really terrible!

"So, can the High Court in Paris make a decision to reduce the import tariffs for East Coast goods?" Contin currently has certain hope for this aristocratic group that actually controls the situation in Paris. He thought that since he could not meet the king, meeting these nobles and finding ways to reduce the high tariffs that stuck to the neck of East Coast industrial products is also a major result of this trip.

"It is impossible. It will not be recognized by the local government!" Frank said bluntly, "Although this institution has the right to reject the inappropriate tax rates proposed by the king, it has no right to set tax rates. What's more, the local people's views on this group of people are not consistent, and it is basically impossible. Besides, Bordeaux and even the entire Gascone are still under the control of Prince Conde, but they obviously will not pay attention to us unless we can help him solve a big problem."

"What kind of big trouble?" Kangding asked immediately.

"For example, provide military pay." Frank also answered quickly, but then he added: "But Prince Conde is not in Bordeaux at present, and is still fighting outside, so are La Rochefoucau and others. But only they can make decisions for such a major matter, so..."

"So we still return to Bordeaux?" Contin felt a little painful in his head. Now the French civil war is endless, the local area is incredibly chaotic, and the transmission of some news has become extremely slow, so when they arrived near Paris, they realized that the king had fled. Mazaran had led his army back to China to "rescue the king". He won several victories in the battle with Spain and Conde, which gave the royal family a little breathing.

"Let's go back. Let's find a way to get in touch with the people of the Stones to see if there is any turning point in the situation." Frank was also a little depressed. This trip to the north was a waste of time.

Contin murmured Frank's suggestion. If he left Orleans and returned to Bordeaux now, he had to wait and see the change of the situation. If Prince Conde's men could win - now seem to have a great hope - become the new owner of Paris, then perhaps the East Coast people would have the opportunity to change the policies formulated by Mazaran, which focused on protecting domestic industrial development, and then rely on cheap industrial products to destroy the newly sprouted handicraft workshops in France, and reoccupate this huge market with a population of more than 20 million. Of course, maybe the newly-entered people will continue to implement high tariff policies to protect their own industries, but how can you know if you don't try it? Prince Conde's troops have always lacked military pay. If the East Coast people can impress them with silver bullet attacks, this may not be possible of success.

"Okay, I think it's better to go back. There is no need to stay here. Paris is so chaotic now that we may not have any results even if we pass..." Kangding nodded in agreement with Frank's suggestion. In fact, he wanted to stay here for a month or two more, and by the way, check the sales of smuggled goods in various places in the East Coast. If possible, meet some smuggling ship owners. But now Frank is with him and he can't help him, so he can only give up.

On January 1, 1652, the group left Orleans, and then drove to Nantes Port again in a carriage, preparing to return to Bordeaux via there. The trip back to Bordeaux was relatively smooth this time, but when their ships entered the port, Frank and others found out that a British ship had also arrived here.

It is not news that British ships arrived in Bordeaux. As a large port, it is common for British merchants to come to trade, but this incident is well known because of the confidants of Cromwell, a "regretto". They came to Bordeaux mainly to negotiate with people headed by Prince Conde - this matter had been spread in Bordeaux as early as last year. Now that the British have come for the second time, is it possible that Prince Condeaux plans to establish a republic in France, or is he planning to join the British side to jointly restrict the arrogant Dutch merchants? No one can know the truth.

Today, the Dutch people are disgusted with people in Europe. Whether it is England, France, or Spain, they have a very different view of them. Among them, the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands, which is determined to develop industry and commerce, is probably the worst, including fishery disputes, textile disputes, shipping disputes, salt disputes, etc. If the British want to rise, they have to challenge the Dutch's dominant position in almost every field. This is no longer something that can be resolved by negotiations, but it still has to be resolved by ancient ways, that is, speaking with fists on the battlefield.

Of course, the British are not fools. They know how powerful the Dutch are. Therefore, today's British urgently need more allies, such as France, which can pose a direct threat to the Netherlands from land, is a very good target to win over. For this reason, even if they coordinate some of the major interests, they can deal with the Spanish with them. In short, they must fight the Dutch and break the economic shackles imposed on England.

The possible war between Britain and the Netherlands is a major event that can affect national decision-making even in the East Coast Republic. How does the East Coast Republic of China need to operate in order to maximize its own interests is really a test of the wisdom of the ruling people. In the diplomatic guidance given to Mo San, the exclusive envoy of Europe, it has always emphasized that the East Coast must "adhere to be neutral" and cannot be involved in the war, but they can find a way to take this opportunity to sign some trade agreements with the Dutch and obtain some substantial benefits.

However, France may be involved in the war now, so the East Coast must make new plans! Continue this matter as a key point to report to Mo San. Although he heard that two "August 10" class double-deck battleships and a few sail guard gunboats, and auxiliary ships of sails - this seems to be built by the navy with privateer income - the total number of naval ships is only more than fifty (excluding inland gunboats), of which combat ships only account for about 70% to 80%, and their strength does not have a great advantage over the old European countries. Therefore, if you want to seize your own interests in this British-Dutch war that is inevitable in the eyes of discerning people, it is impossible not to make plans in advance.

On January 20, 1652, after Prince Conde and others did not return, Contin simply left Bordeaux and headed to Livona near Montpellier. Not long after he arrived in Montpellier, the Doria family, who had a good time in Spain, sent someone to inform Contin that the Almeida family had demonstrated an interesting gadget in the store in Lisbon, a small machine that relied on burning wood to generate steam in the boiler and thus push the connecting rod. Although the demonstration experiment failed shortly after, the entire machine leaked severely and was so weak that it was not enough to pump water, it was extremely expensive and was useless. However, under the rendering of various magical legends about the East Coast steam engine, this experiment still attracted the attention of some people, and at least some people have begun to summarize the reasons for their failure.

The people of the Doria family told Kanding with a playful expression: "Fortunately this is in Lisbon. People like exaggerated, luxurious, and beautiful things. Few people are interested in such dirty little machines. Otherwise, many things that are very bad for the East Coast people..." This immediately made Kanding's back wet with sweat. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better and faster!
Chapter completed!