Chapter 3298 King Mesa’s Garden (7)

Four million francs sounds like a lot, but it is only Josephine's living expenses for a year. If Georgiana also accepted 500,000 francs for a month's living expenses, it would be 6 million francs a year.

It cost 4 million francs to build Malmaison, which was paid for by Hamburg, but it was a one-time buyout rather than a "tribute" every year.

"Ouch!" Georgiana made a sound of pain as Bertin was combing her hair.

"Be patient," Bertin said ruthlessly while combing his hair, "if you want to look beautiful."

In fact, she didn't care that much, but combing her hair was something every woman had to do every day. She could only sit in front of the mirror and watch Bertin busy at work.

In Ismail's time, Egypt once planted large amounts of cash crops such as cotton and cane sugar, which destroyed the Egyptian soil. Egypt itself did not have fertile land, and relied entirely on the flooding of the Nile River. The ancient granaries of the past even needed to import food. .

During the reign of the Ottoman and Mamluk dynasties, although they established well-organized provinces, they never carried out any administrative reforms in Egypt. The Nile River was not regulated in any way. The beys owned luxurious palaces, large tracts of land and servants. However, the Nile River overflowed and plagues broke out. Gangs formed in all professions and various guilds were established.

They play the role of a kind of "intermediate bridge". Pashas do not need to issue any decrees and directly assess taxes to the guilds, or communicate with the Sheikhs to handle some matters. The Sheikhs are the top leaders within the guilds. In the middle are the ordinary guild members, and at the bottom are the apprentices.

Napoleon was also an "apprentice" when he signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. Campo Formio is located between Venice and Trieste. Even if Talleyrand negotiated the almost impossible reciprocal navigation agreement, this place would be a trouble in the future.

Sugar cane is called quad sukkar in Arabic, which means sugary stem, which she found out from the pharmacopoeia. In the 8th century, the Arabs were already using sugar and classified sugar. They believed that sugar cane was cool and good for the throat and stomach. Putting violet sugar in milk was a fitness medicine for treating lung diseases. They also knew how to use it. Sugar, honey and rice are fermented.

They also practice the art of sugar sculpture, which is similar to ice sculpture, but sugar sculptures use whole pieces of sugar, especially white sugar produced in Egypt.

People in the Middle Ages used so many spices to cook food, not only because meat itself is perishable and needs spices to cover it up, but also because it is a symbol of wealth. Just like the French today, they still judge social status by whether they eat well or not.

In the Versailles court of Louis XIV, a ceremony called a grand couvert would be held, which would involve placing many exquisite dishes in front of the king and then performing them for the people watching him eat.

The Queen would sit beside him, dressed in the same grand attire as Georgiana was now wearing.

"Okay." Bertin pinned a fluffy feather on her head with a small diamond hairpin.

Before getting too hung up on whether she looked beautiful or not, Georgiana had a question to ask her.

"Are we going to have a grand couvert?" Georgiana asked.

"This is the sentiment of the citizens of Sens, madam," said Bertin.

Yes, she ate so much herself during the famine that she plucked the feather out of frustration.

"Choose someone else." Georgiana said to Bertin, holding back her temper that was about to explode.

Bertin searched in the jewelry box for a while and found a chain-shaped hair accessory, which was entangled in her hair.

"Breakfast is ready, madam. Besides, isn't this how we came here in Belgium?" Bertin said in her ear.

Georgiana did not correct her.

If Sanz had not bothered to prepare, but had to worry, if not to welcome Georgiana, then to welcome Napoleon's sister Paulina, it was normal for a hospitable host to prepare a sumptuous meal.

After dressing up, she left her room. This city was once mentioned in Caesar's "Gaul Wars", where the Yone and Vanne rivers meet. But now there are no traces of ancient Rome. Most of the houses in the city are medieval-style wooden buildings. Only the church and the town hall are made of stone.

As they say, apart from Paris, France is full of countryside.

The place where they stayed used to belong to a certain viscount, who was a wine merchant before buying the title. Sens is not far from the Palace of Fontainebleau, or the Palace of Fontainebleau is between Sens and Paris, near the Forest of Kings. There are many such houses.

When Georgiana came to the banquet hall, she saw a large table filled with all kinds of exquisite dishes. Polina was sitting at the end of the table, and Katharina and her female companion were chatting with her.

When Georgiana appeared, Polina looked her up and down, but said nothing and turned back to chat with someone else.

Delmid did not appear at the table; he was taken aside by the nurse and sat there, like the princes of old.

Georgiana didn't like it. She felt like there was a stone in her stomach. No matter how exquisite the dishes were, they couldn't arouse her appetite.

After she sat down, a middle-aged man walked in under the guidance of Denon. He seemed to be dressed carefully, and his every move was full of affection.

"Good morning, ladies." The middle-aged man said to them.

This is actually quite rude of him. He should say hello after introducing himself or being introduced by Denon.

"Good morning, Mr. Mayor, thank you for your hospitality." Georgiana said with a smile and raised her hand.

Mayor Sanz immediately stepped forward and kissed her hand, but Polina did not make any move.

Only then did Denon begin to introduce the personal information of Mayor Sanz, but her brain capacity no longer allowed her to remember more names.

Instead, she remembered a cartoon from the Revolution. Louis XVI was sitting at a large dining table eating and drinking. There were many dwarfs under his dining table, holding various kinds of food and placing them on his table. , in the distance is the sea, and a ship is coming, as if it is also coming to deliver food.

The title is "Modern Gargantua Dines with His Family". Gargantua is the name of the giant in "The Legend of the Giant".

She sat the mayor down, ate with them, and chatted about the local customs, and then the mayor talked to her about the places of interest.

Sens was the seat of the Patriarch of Gaul and Germany in the Middle Ages. The cathedral here is dedicated to St. Stephen. Louis IX held his wedding to Margaret of Provence in this church. Pope Alexander III also stayed here. for a while.

When she heard this, she had an idea and asked for a glass of water, then mixed it into the wine in front of the mayor.

Polina had already seen it and didn't look surprised, but the mayor did.

"Hail to St. Louis," Georgiana said to the mayor. "I heard that he lived a frugal life and mixed his wine with water."

The mayor seemed to understand something and became restless looking at the dishes on the table.

Georgiana turned her glass to the mayor and said, "Thank you for your hospitality."

"You said it just now," said Polina.

"Saint Louis said that the king's duties oblige him to do certain things, and his religious ideals often paradoxically required him not to do them. Do you know how he dealt with this problem?" Georgiana asked the mayor.

"I've never heard of this." The mayor smiled bitterly.

"I don't know, let's go out for a walk later." Georgiana smiled and said to the mayor, "I feel that Sens is a very harmonious city, and I want to know more about it."