I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 117 The Departure of Bishop Mazarin

   This sentence suddenly made the warm scene cold.

"Mr. Bishop is seriously ill." Philip said, and the king looked at him again, only to realize that although Philip's dress was fancy, it could be seen that it was not new clothes-compared to Louis, Philip's attitude towards Bishop Mazarin Opinion, there are more bad than good, but his feelings for the bishop are also very complicated. After all, he and the Queen Mother did not do this for personal selfishness, but for the country. He was never targeting Philip. , but the king's younger brother and the Duke of Anjou. Since Louis was assassinated, he might die at any time, or disappear into the world in another way. Bishop Mazarin resolutely asked the queen mother to make Philip the regent. The King - didn't he know that Philip hated, even hated himself? But France is before all, as he promises and keeps--inherited in the thought of Cardinal Richelieu--my first purpose is to exalt the king", "my second purpose is to make the kingdom glorious" .

   He really gave his life for it.

Mr. Bishop's serious illness cast a shadow over the king's return. Under the king's decree, all the banquets and dances originally prepared were cancelled, and hunting activities were also banned. He hurriedly named his brother because He needed Philip to gather Orleans and the surrounding area, and then he even postponed all state affairs and went to visit Bishop Mazarin at noon on the third day.

Of course, Bishop Mazarin also has his own mansion. This mansion is near Notre Dame de Paris. It is a gray multi-room mansion. Together with the courtyard, the room where the bishop is located is dull and dark. The doors and windows were closed, the glass was covered with curtains, the gaps were blocked with cloth strips, and the room was lit with candles even during the day. When the king entered the room through the many priests and monks, he smelled the inside. His heart sank, for no other reason, but because he smelled the smell of oil, it is impossible for the current Mr. Bishop to have the strength and appetite to eat, so it could only be the smell of holy oil, which he has already done the sacrament of death.

There were still some people around Bishop Mazarin's bed. They were dressed in black clothes of ordinary people and their faces were solemn, but the king had no time to think about it. He stepped forward and held the hand of the bishop. Like a glove stuffed with cotton, there is no temperature, and there is no response from turning back, a thick sadness and panic rose from Louis's heart, although people have always criticized Mr. Bishop for treating him like his own son. King, but Louis was only five years old when he ascended the throne. The ups and downs of the past ten years were not covered by others, but this old man blocked him and Philip.

   "I have been wondering, Your Majesty," said Bishop Mazarin, "whether you will come."

"Of course I'll come," said Louis, his words were full of pain, and Bishop Mazarin of course heard it, and he smiled reassuringly, "I'm glad you came too." His eyes slanted to one side, "I think I must introduce you, Your Majesty, this is Mr. Pierre Cornay."

   Mr. Cornay had bowed to His Majesty when the King entered the room, and now he bowed to the King again.

   Then Mr. Bishop introduced a few people to the king, who were all lawyers: "I let them handle some important affairs."

   "Please put it away for a while," Louis couldn't help laughing and laughing. What important business do you have to do now, you are about to go to see God: "You just have to take a good rest."

"I'll have plenty of time to recuperate later, Your Majesty, until the end," insisted Bishop Mazarin, his cheeks flushed with worry and his eyes shining: "Your Majesty, this is the most important thing—here is the Four transfer instruments."

   "Transfer instrument?"

"You can also understand it as a gift, a little gift from me, Your Majesty," said Bishop Mazarin. "You know, it stands to reason that all the estates of the princes of the Church should belong to the Church, because they themselves belong to the Church," He said, with a slight sly look on his face: "But after I leave this world and go to God, while I am still here, still breathing, I have the right to deal with their own property."

Perhaps it was a look, a silent priest, always hidden in the shadows, came up and gave Mr. Bishop a little water - a potion, perhaps, and the spirit of Mr. Bishop was even more lifted, and he even helped him with the help of his servants. He sat up and took the king's hand.

"I have no children, presumptuously, I did see you as my heir, though I had a great blow—I thought I lost you, but God forbid you came back, back to Paris, Come back to me, hold my hand, so I made a decision that I made a long time ago, yes, after Felipe, don't interrupt me, Your Majesty ," he said: "I've been hesitating because I know how terrible it would be to have a child hold a great sword, not just power, but also wealth, and people say I'm corrupt and bribery, and it's true that I come from France. A glass of golden flowing water was intercepted from a wide river." He smiled: "But I don't have a place to use them. Of course, occasionally I also want to buy a few beautiful robes, but other than that, No more, I think you can use it where you need it most."

   "Mr. Bishop!"

"Mr. Cornay!" shouted Bishop Mazarin, and the person who was first introduced to the king approached immediately. He was a kind-faced middle-aged man with a sadly gleaming head, but he was meticulous about his work and very serious. , his demeanor was also very elegant and swift, "I asked this gentleman to handle the transfer of money for me, Your Majesty.

"and many more…"

   "Don't wait," said Bishop Mazarin with a smile, "Mr. Cornay, tell our majesty, how much money do I have?"

   "Fifty million livres."

This figure shocked Louis. Literally, he jumped up from the bed. 50 million livres was equivalent to half a year's total tax revenue in France, and the total tax revenue fell into the hands of the royal family. Basically only three One percent, that is to say, a transfer document from Bishop Mazarin gave Louis more than a year of income.

   "This gentleman handles the transfer of land, mansion and estate for me." As if he was not surprised enough by Louis, Bishop Mazarin continued.

   "This gentleman handles the transfer of artworks such as portraits, sculptures and sacred objects for me."

"This gentleman handles the transfer procedures for my jewelry, clothing, furniture, etc.," said the bishop finally, and the figure has been calculated to be as much as 200 million livres. The king really doesn't know whether he should accept it or not. Of course, This cost is like helping him in the snow, who needs to prepare the army, appease the refugees, and sort out the government, but...

   "Take it, boy," said Mr. Bishop, "I know you'll use them where it makes the most sense." He murmured softly: "Better than those **** in Rome."

   After saying this, he pushed the king out rudely, and when he lay down again, the blood faded, and his face was as white as washed gauze.

After this gift, the church people gathered outside the bishop's gate scattered like birds in anger and never came again, but Louis brought Philip here again. As he spoke, he stared into the eyes of the king and said, "Don't set up the office of prime minister again." His voice was so soft that he could hardly hear it, and Louis fell down. "Yes," he was thinking: "You are the last Prime Minister, Mister Bishop."

Bishop Mazarin showed a smile, "Also, Your Majesty, you have to be more cautious." He said: "You were assassinated in Dunkirk by people from all over the world, Gaston, Duke of Orleans, he was the mastermind, and then . . . the Huguenots are helping, because they hate your grandfather, and the . . . the Nophers."

   "Vampires?" Louis never thought, "Why did they assassinate me?"

"Because you want to rebuild Paris," said the bishop, "and the Nophiles can only survive in sewers and tombs, or... in unknown corners, your reconstruction and repair of Parisian streets and shacks... directly Threatening them, they thought it was your declaration of war on them...so...they decided to assassinate you."

   "Sifang, there's another one?" Louis quickly calmed down: "Who else?"

   "The Flanders, and perhaps the Spaniards," said the bishop, "obviously, they fear that your rule over Dunkirk will be like a dagger ... to their throats."

   "They were right," said Louis grimly.

  Mr. Bishop was worried again and let out a sigh. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

   He may really be relieved.

  Mr. Bishop returned to the arms of God at dawn the next day, and his funeral was like a page turned over, after which the book of France was to be written by Louis.

  ———

The church in Rome sent two bishops. Obviously, they were aware of what happened before, but Louis was indeed a mortal, not a wizard. They could be said to have come here in a hurry and returned resentful. If there is a problem with Louis, there is no problem. Doubt, then the church may use this to extort a good sum of money from the Bourbon royal family in France - money, territory and power, or all three.

Elarius, the chief judge of the Paris Inquisition, also came to see the king, and he was very respectful to the young ruler, but Louis always felt that he seemed to know a lot of things - thinking of the monks who were still in the world, he wanted to come here. This gentleman should have more than the church in Rome.

   "Speaking of this," said Louis, "I have something for you to do."

   "Please speak, Your Majesty."

   "I'm going to redo and refurbish the underground pipes in Paris."

  Elarius paused for a while: "Is that what I meant?"

   "I heard that there is a lot of stinky dirt hidden in those underground pipes," Louis said. "I want to wash them out and dry them in the sun. I want a clean Paris like a holy place."

   "I hope you know what you're doing," Ela said slowly: "You're declaring war on the vampire, Your Majesty."

   "One of the thirteen clans."

   "Nophilis is not the only place in Paris."

"First in Paris, and then... there will be no more Nophiles in my France," Louis said in that mild tone: "If they're going to Spain or England, it doesn't matter, I've got a lot of enemies anyway, but in France, no, I don't allow any rebellion in my domain, vampires or anything."

   "You are so crazy."

"Now that you know . And the wok—your family will need these things more than going to the exchange with gold."

   "Those nobles..."

   "At least half a year, we don't need to let them know." Louis said: "Of course, if you want gold..."

   "A portion of the gold," whispered Elaeus, "and the church."

   "I can give you more, to bribe, if those who are monitoring you can relax a little bit, then we will be found later, and by then, even if we are found... Maybe it doesn't matter?"

   "You're still really greedy." Elarius said: "The Mancini family will surely regret letting you go."

"Who knows, maybe they'll be lucky or maybe the Mancini family doesn't deal in grains and vegetables," Louis said. "Their enemies are monopolizing the world's wheat, and they'll be happy to see each other go wild. "

   "I see, Your Majesty," said Elarius.

  ———

When Philippe, Duke of Orleans - not Gaston, finally returned to Paris, which had turned from a cold winter to an early spring and was full of life - it was not at all apparent that the war in the dark had almost left Paris in the preceding three months. The underground became hell, Elaho not only used every monk in the inquisition, but even recruited some young warriors from the inner world. It can also be said to be a **** trial. Paris was driven out, but the monks of the Inquisition lost nearly half, and even the Church of Rome was alarmed, and the younger warriors lost more—but it was not without reward.

Ships of food, cloth, and other daily necessities were sent, and gold Louis worth a hundred thousand livres was placed before Elarius, along with three proven relics, which were used to bribe Rome Church's.

   But for the king, there is no better deal than this.

The citizens of Paris were unaware of the unfortunate fate they might encounter, and they watched the King's engineering team with great interest. People with lofty ideals - even though they have two diametrically opposed sides in morality, they have only one mark in the eyes of the king, the thugs who threaten his rule, and they are like the Nopheles from Paris. disappeared, so although the king’s actions disturbed the whole of Paris, Nicholas Fouquet, who acted this time, did not encounter any protests and objections that troubled him. At least, he could not hear or see – although he did not understand the king at all. Why do you care so much about those despicable civilians.

The entire street was opened up, pedestrians could only walk on tiptoes along the wall, and the carriage had to take a detour. According to the king's instructions, no adjacent streets would be constructed at the same time. The mansion was almost impossible to open, and the suffocating old stench could be smelled as soon as the door opened, but they also all got a semi-mandatory bribe for the sewer pipes that extended inside the mansion, where the workers were working on them. The place where they are willing to let go has left the pipe joint. In the future, as long as they want, they can install the toilet and bathtub on it. These two things... According to the businessman who accompanied the driver, there are the same gold-rimmed white porcelain suits as the king's suite, and there are second-class ones. There are single white porcelain suits, and the most common gray pottery suits, but all the nobles and important officials always have the same position as the king, so Louis is also a little surprised that these suits are actually sold in gold-edged white porcelain suits. Best of all, those people didn't care about money at all, and His Royal Highness Philip, who was in charge of this transaction, gave Louis 200,000 livres in just one month.

   "How come there are so many?" Louis asked: "There are only ten or so streets that are currently under construction." Fouquet would take credit for him every day.

Philip laughed at once: "Your Majesty," he said, "you probably don't know...I mean, Your Majesty, those people...they didn't come for their own needs, they were just flattery, if only to be able to get along with them. You said the last word...you are now the true Lord of France."

   "Oh," Louis was infected by Philip's emotions, and asked with a smile, "So you are doing well in Orleans?"

"Of course, I am also the only dear brother of the ruler." Philip said, the king patted the seat beside him happily, and he immediately walked to sit there with his chest up, next to his brother, "now Let's have dinner together tonight." Louis said.

   "It's a great honor, Your Majesty." Philip bowed slightly.

At supper, Philip found that there was still no wine on the table—he knew that the king was mourning for the Cardinal of Mazarin, and that it had been a whole month, and that there were no more gambling or dances at court, only Montpensy. The Duchess of Ai and the Queen Mother occasionally listen to music, and even the king's clothes are dark in color and simple in texture. Although people at this time do not commemorate their deceased relatives and friends in this way, the attitude of the king also made the court and the court. The officials are not so nervous anymore, don't forget that they were almost always working for M. Mazarin in the first two decades. It is hard to say whether the king will hate them for this, and now the king is even willing to mourn for M. Bishop. , does that mean that they will not be punished or collected?

The idea of ​​   made them always very respectful when facing the king. Although Louis was still a novice in government affairs, it was unexpected that the constraints were not as many as he thought.

   The problem is that there always seems to be unpleasant things in the world, for example, when the king was still refusing hunts and balls, his treasurer, Nicholas Fouquet, invited his majesty to visit his new home.

  ——

   Plus more achieved.

   (end of this chapter)