Chapter 2359 Explosion (middle)

  From the 15th century, glass in Venice has been considered an international luxury, the "star thing" on the table of the upper class, and it was first thought to be an imitation of crystal.

The more transparent and colorless, the higher the "purity". However, even if some Venetian glass craftsmen imitate the dazzling Venetian glass in Antwerp and other regions, because the melting technology, furnace production technology, craftsmanship, etc. are strictly confidential, The development of the glass industry in various countries is still limited.

It was not until the second half of the seventeenth century that there was an important change in the production and use of glass, but this change had nothing to do with the "spread" of the Venetian skill, but was the result of an English invention, with whom George Ravenscroft had worked His brother was involved in the trade in Venice, and he also wanted to go to the island to steal secrets. However, the strict guards on the island made them give up their thoughts, and then he discovered through observation that there is a kind of pebble called flint on the riverbed in Italy. Glossy glass varieties, in addition he also extracted soda from Italian oxalicine, and added a "mystery substance", glass became easier to cut, and the end result was the invention of a colorless colorless in the United Kingdom in imitation activities. Glass.

The luxury mirrors originally held in the hands of noble ladies became ordinary glass windows and wine bottles. In the 18th century, this technology was introduced to France, and glass bottles were used instead of clay pots to store all kinds of wine. The Dutch and Venetians later adopted this technique.

The Bataviians stumbled upon a special phenomenon when making glass. If molten glass is naturally dropped into cold water under gravity, it will form a teardrop-shaped "glass teardrop", which is so strong that it can be hit with a hammer. It can't be smashed, but if you grab its slender "tail" and squeeze it a little, the whole glass tear will burst and smash in an instant, completely shattering.

The craftsmen dedicated their discoveries to Prince Rupert, the son of Frederick V, Elector of the German Palatinate, who served as Czech king after the Prague throwing out of the window incident and was immediately defeated by Austria , was forced to abdicate into exile, and was stripped of the title of Elector.

  Because of his father, Rupert was in exile when he was young. He was placed under house arrest by the Austrians when he was a teenager. When he became an adult, he joined the British Royal Navy and was once a well-known general.

   He dedicated the glass teardrops that the craftsman gave him to Charles II, and then this thing was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine and was called "Tears of Rupert".

   It wouldn’t be surprising if the story stopped there, but this Prince Rupert of the Rhine was not so serene. Due to financial constraints during the war, the Prince of Wales allowed Prince Rupert to raid the merchant ships of "all England's enemies", so that Prince Rupert's seven warships not only did not need funding to support them, but also made money for the royalists .

Originally, the royalist navy only had these seven ships. The Prince of Wales bought six more after raising enough money, but Prince Rupert thought that he could incorporate the British royal family's garrison on the Isles of Scilly and join him. 's troops. Unexpectedly, this plan was known in advance by the British Federal Parliament. After the naval battle with the two cruisers, Prince Rupert fled back to the port of Kinsale. Next, the new admiral encircled and suppressed Prince Rupert, and he could not. Uninterrupted plundering of England's merchant ships.

At that time, Cromwell was victorious in Ireland. If Cromwell occupied Ireland, then Prince Rupert of the Rhine continued to stay in the port of Kinsale. There are only two ends, either being killed on the battlefield or being pushed up. guillotine. It was at this time that a strong wind blew the English Parliament's fleet to pieces, and Prince Rupert was able to escape to Portugal.

   On the way to Portugal, Prince Rupert plundered several English merchant ships, and the spoils gained four million pounds for the royalists.

After    arrived in Portugal, Prince Rupert of the Rhine was courted by the king and allowed to continue to profit from private plundering. English merchants complained about this, so the British Parliament sent a navy to clean up.

Although the British Parliament issued a threat that anyone who took in Prince Rupert was an enemy of the Commonwealth, the Portuguese king did not directly drive Prince Rupert, but gave him a sum of money to leave on his own, Lisbon There's a Portuguese fleet out there from Brazil, and he can go there. Prince Rupert of the Rhine promised the king that he would not start privateering in Portuguese waters in the future, but instead of going to Brazil, he crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Sea, looking for opportunities to continue looting English merchant ships.

   At this time, European countries have seen that the failure of the restoration of the royalists in England has become a foregone conclusion, and it is wise to maintain friendship with the British Commonwealth. Prince Rupert of the Rhine can no longer represent the British government, and he quickly degenerated into a pirate.

   He regarded as opponents all those who did not buy his privateers, and anyone who had a good relationship with the Commonwealth, and at this time there was no one in the Mediterranean who was his opponent, only the navy of the British Parliament. At this time, Prince Rupert was very accustomed to the pirate life, and he even raised the flag of the British Commonwealth to deceive the fleets of other countries, and he was like no one in the Mediterranean Sea.

   Later he crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and came to loot Africa, the Dutch Republic was on the eve of war with the Commonwealth and was happy to see English merchant ships looted.

   But at this moment he encountered a storm, the flagship sank in the storm, the strength of the fleet was severely damaged, and the sailors fled. Portugal also formed friendly relations with the Commonwealth at this time, and Rupert lost his last refuge and was unable to sell plundered goods, and after losing another ship he had to leave Africa and the Atlantic Islands to reach the Caribbean , he named the bay on the west side of Dominica Prince Rupert Bay, and eventually encountered a severe storm in the Virgin Islands, almost wiped out with only one ship left.

No one knows what happened to him because he "disappeared", some say he went to Barbados to buy a plantation, Charles I was eager to take back control of Barbados, however he did not provide Barbados with any troops and funds, but commissioned Managers, the new governor was popular with the plantation owners, who were willing to recognize the governor's authority as long as they were not called up to fight for the cause of the royalists in England.

  There is also a saying that Prince Rupert went to Virginia in the New World, joined the Colonial Council of the Americas and became the Governor of the Hudson Colonial Company, so Canada has something named after him.

This world is full of all kinds of legends. There was once someone who said that Margaret I of Denmark poisoned her son so that she could monopolize power. This rumor made many people believe it, and there was even a Prussian peasant who pretended to be a prince. deceive. But he was soon found to be fake, he didn't speak a word of Danish, and he was caught and burned with a fake crown on his head.

   During the American Revolutionary War, it was actually an anti-British alliance. France was eager to restore the humiliation of the Seven Years’ War and India’s dominance. The Netherlands had suffered heavy blows in many maritime hegemony, and tried to use this opportunity to retaliate. Spain also has long been hostile to Britain, hoping that the "Invincible Fleet" can regain maritime hegemony and the Strait of Gibraltar. As a result, Britain fell into multi-front warfare, which greatly weakened its combat strength.

  Georgianna did not want to open up two "battlefields", and eventually the east and west went to war.

Igor Karkaroff is so easy to find because of the Death Eater mark on his arm, otherwise it would be very difficult to find a person who deliberately hid even in the size of England, not to mention it is many times larger than England. the "Black Forest".

The Ministry of Magic in England has always been "nosy". When Grindelwald was in Paris, he also sent Aurors to France. The Germans were much more polite. Scamander's brother Theseus was the director of the Auror's office. He was fed monsters in Ekosta.

  Is this person here? If you don't see it, it's called murder if you have a body, and you can only count as missing if you don't have a body.

  In this world, so many people go missing every year, not all of them are found. Theseus has no dark mark, and it is almost impossible to locate him.

  People are gone, and the British Ministry of Magic can only let it go in the end, even if the "missing" is the head of the Auror office.

   "Office Director" should be staying in the office, running some field work, really think he is 007?

  Georgiana bought a bunch of Belgian fries for dinner. She deliberately bought some extra to take to the Cloth Merchant Association. She felt that Fresnel was still there.

  Colorless glass, although transparent, is also reflective.

Some people saw the dazzling jewels through the colorless glass of the window, and some people found the person who was following him through it, although he did not look as clear as the mirror with mercury behind him, it looked translucent, like a ghost. , but can still be seen clearly.

   This is where Fresnel's reflection is interesting. She wants to see the liveliness on the other side rather than going to the overcrowded theater.

   (end of this chapter)