I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 126 Golden Louis

  The fact that the Queen Mother was concealed by Her Royal Highness the Duke of Orleans was that Louis not only let Philip read the secret letter, but also gave the Duke of Orleans a position that was almost impossible to refuse, that is, a secret spy who mastered a part for His Majesty the King. The reason why it is said to be part of it is because there was no mature intelligence network in Louis's hands. His spy was inherited by Bishop Mazarin from Bishop Richelieu, and then expanded a part, and finally handed it over to him.

Here I have to mention the components of these spies. Just like Bishop Richelieu, some spies are held by monks and priests, because people will always go to them to confess their sins, and they hold more secrets than the stars in the sky. And more - although according to the law of the Church, any secret they hear is not allowed to leak, but... bishops have the right to listen to the confession of a priest or any clergyman, so want to keep the secret completely , must endure the whipping from the spirit.

There are also criminals who have been brought out of prison like Mrs. Milady. If they do not want to serve the bishop, they will go back to the prison or even the guillotine and the gallows, and they will be branded - criminals must have The stigma will also make them never able to return to normal life.

There are also some traveling merchants. They are not trustworthy. They are not so much working for the bishop as they are working for the clinking coins. Their intelligence is often incoherent and unreliable, but sometimes Also catch a big fish by mistake.

In such a chaotic situation, when he was in the inner world, with some piecemeal time in his studies, the king also talked with Mrs. Milady, and the result was that after he decided to return to the outer world, he had to deal with this chaos. To make a rectification, he did not interrupt to hand the spies into the hands of one person, so that if that person wanted to deceive himself, it would be too easy. Louis would divide the intelligence network into three parts.

The first part he wanted to hand over, or rather, ask Philip to form, was to "follow" the usual practice of people hundreds of years later, that is, to serve as ambassadors and their entourages, officials in countries other than France. People are Louis' eyes and ears. Although this is the same for almost everyone, Louis's expectation is a more orthodox and efficient organization. The reason why he wants Philip to be the leader of these people is also because of Philip's identity Aloof, in many cases, the Duke of Orleans is there, enough to guarantee and shelter many people who are suspected, or in a critical moment, he is also the object that others dare not block and hurt.

  Philip took up the will with great excitement, even if for the king, and a few others, this position would never be on paper or widely known.

The second part is the intelligence network that Mazarin left to the king. This network temporarily excludes priests and monks-because the king does not naturally suppress their identities, it is not easy to bribe these priests. It may even fall into the trap of the church, so only criminals like Mrs. Milady, as well as some thieves with one foot on the prison door, mercenaries, and marginal characters such as tavern owners can still Yiyong, after considering these people, the king temporarily mentioned the Count of D'Artagnan as one of the leaders of the secret agents. The Count of D'Artagnan who came to accept this position was very happy at first, but His expression changed sadly when he heard that he might have to work with Madame Milady in the future.

But this is necessary. They were originally the subordinates of Madame Milady, and the Count of D'Artagnan was going to hand over to Madame Milady. The king smiled and reminded this frivolous gentleman that he and Madame Milady had a relationship with each other. There is a fate, "Although Mrs. Milady made a little joke with you, sir, she is still a very attractive lady after all, isn't this enough to make you forgive her?"

"What you said is true, but, Your Majesty..." said Count D'Artagnan with a sullen face, "that's the problem." Not only because Milady played him mercilessly, but also because she and D'Artagnan Ang is exactly the same person. In dealing with the opposite sex, they are like beasts, wanton, vicious and ruthless - not to mention similar temperaments, even D'Artagnan or Milady would definitely be more willing to accept a real one. good people as companions.

It's just that no matter how reluctant the Count D'Artagnan is, he has to work with Madame Milady for a while. Madame Milady was placed in the world by Louis, firstly to isolate her from the intimate relationship with her former subordinates, and secondly. Even Milady also needs to build a big net for the king in the world, but to achieve the goal, the support of the world is essential. Of course, the king will not do it himself, so naturally only the Count of D'Artagnan will serve on his behalf.

When the Count of D'Artagnan left, the younger brother Philip came to be summoned by the king. Although he was a little puzzled, he almost never spoke up in public affairs. It was the king who told him that he intended to let D'Artagnan come. Being the head of the spies confuses Philip even more, since the Count of d'Artagnan does not seem to be a good keeper of secrets.

What the king didn't tell his brother was that sometimes, an overly fancy appearance could be the best disguise, and it wouldn't be surprising that someone who was good at flirting with hobbies suddenly appeared anywhere. It will drag all the malicious eyes to itself, like it is difficult for people to see things covered by shadows in strong light.

   Of course, as I said before, he handed over the conspiracy affairs in the court to Philip - forgot to mention, in addition to foreign countries, the French court is also within the scope of the king's brother's responsibility.

The real spy leader is Colbert. People despise his background because he is just a businessman who drives along, but the coverage of businessmen is wider than that of "names" and nobles, and there are more people who deal with them - and businessmen They are sensitive enough to intelligence, otherwise how can they hoard and sell short? And no matter when and where, war is always inseparable from food, armament and transportation. As long as you can grasp the trend of commercial society, it is not difficult to infer the situation of any country or region.

In addition, although there was a gift from the bishop, the king was more willing to create a team that only belonged to him. The merchants entered the king's field of vision at the right time. Compared with the "famous Shu", bandits and priests, the merchants involved more Guang, and if there are businessmen who talk too much, it is not surprising to observe the situation. After all, business opportunities are often better than military aircraft. More importantly, after accepting the lesson of Charles I, Louis did not want to force the merchant class to riot and then cut it off. His own head, before temporarily being able to shake the interests of the priests and nobles, and unable to reduce the tax burden of the merchants, he can only try to hang the honor and title on the hook, and see if he can manage to catch this still neglected great. fish.

   There are definitely big fish.

Philip had just left, and Colbert had come, and he had brought with him the latest coinage—even though he was only five years old when Louis came to the throne, the Bishop of Mazarin still minted an aegue of silver for him as a celebration, and there On the silver coin, the profile head of Louis is like a perfectly baked white bread. The bulging cheeks make him look very childish. Bishop Mazarin once wanted to recast when Louis was fourteen years old. A silver coin was given as a celebration, but the situation was tense at the time, so Louis refused after considering it. Now that he has not only officially ruled, but also has an heir, the minting of coins is naturally placed at the top of the schedule.

Colbert is only the Minister of Finance. Although he was appointed to be in charge of the minting of the latest gold Louis, the person in charge of designing the coins is still in charge of professionals. Charles Le Brun, his family has been serving the French royal family, but his Both his father and grandfather were good at carving, and he was good at painting. His teacher was also Poussin, who was favored by Louis XIII. He also followed Poussin to Italy to study, and he had a profound understanding and experience of portrait carving in ancient Greece.

These are not the reasons why Louis finally chose him to take charge of this important work - the reason why this painter in his prime is the king's trust is because he, his family is completely royalist, in the king's In exile he even refused to serve the Duke of Gaston and the Prince of Condé, an act that was dangerous for a painter, since both had the power to throw him in prison, or even put him in prison. He was hanged. Fortunately, he was not foolish enough to be captured. After rejecting the two big men, he ran away immediately. Later, he heard that when the king was in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he also entrusted a customer to deliver a copy on his behalf. An exquisite hand-copied Bible, dedicated to the Queen Mother.

It's like remembering the enemy, like these little people who have done their best, Louis will not forget, although Mr. Charles' talent can only be said to be mediocre and cannot be compared with those talented painters, but Louis still A huge sale - during the riots, almost all of the ceiling paintings of the Louvre were destroyed by soot and flames, requiring extensive repairs and repaints, all of which were handed over to Charles Le Brun, who also It lived up to the king's expectations, and it was done quickly and well - the poor thing is that the king's brother Philip is always hesitant to say anything... His king's brother can be said to be almost perfect, except for his bad aesthetics, not to mention his aesthetics It is equivalent to judging ugliness, but... Louis is obviously more inclined to pragmatism or... straight maleism, even if he can distinguish some subtle differences, he will not care.

So after people secretly agreed with emmmm, Charles Le Brun proudly took over the task entrusted to him by the king. He designed a silver coin of 1 Ecu, and also designed a gold coin worth twenty livres, a silver coin. Louis on top wore a laurel wreath, with curly hair draped over his shoulders and a cloak buckled below, his young forehead was straight and smooth, his eyes were piercing, looking straight ahead, his nose was high, his lips were pressed together, and the silver The reverse side is the coat of arms of the shield when Louis ascended the throne, the crown above, and the lily, the symbol of the royal family, in the shield.

The Louis on the    gold coin has removed the laurel and cape, completely showing the personal charm of the young king. The reverse side of the coin is an isometric cross, the top of the cross is the crown, and there are four lilies in the middle.

"It's all very good." Louis said, rubbing the surface of the coin. At this time, the coin minting has begun to use a screw press, which is faster and more beautiful. The edges of the silver and gold coins have a circle to prevent someone from deliberately grinding off a part. The zigzag pattern used to make money, the figure is exquisite, the age and letters are very clear, the king nodded in satisfaction, and weighed the weight lightly in his hand: "How much gold and silver are there?" he asked.

Every country, and even every lord who has the right to mint coins, is very secretive about the amount of gold and silver in coins. This is normal. When a large number of coins are issued, a large amount of net profit can be obtained with a small difference. Louis needs money very much now, but He doesn't intend to play tricks on coins, like florins in Italy, piasters in Spain, forints in Hungary, guilders, zlotys in Poland... The real value of coins is at the same time It also means the credibility of a government or a country. Unless France can be as unshakable as the behemoths in the future, it can not care about these, let alone the real value of coins, even if it is a piece of color-printed paper. Can be intriguing.

"But..." Colbert said, he was still a little unwilling, because he always had an idea, that is, to ensure France's gold and silver reserves as much as possible, he used to be just a businessman, but now he is also an academician of the French Academy , and his further mastery of finance and economy made him firmly believe that the precious metals that a country can possess also represent the strength of this country.

Louis knew what he was thinking when he saw him, and the king couldn't help but want to laugh, "Wait a minute, Jean," he called Colbert's Christian name affectionately, "if you insist on your ideas, then Believe me, God has only more for me and France than to seek silver and gold in our poor nation."

   Colbert politely showed an inquiring look.

"Wait a minute," Louis recalled the gold and silver mines on those two distant new worlds, "and then I will show you the promised land of God, where the gold is buried as if buried in the ground. It winds like the roots of a tree, and every river gleams with gold, and you don’t even need to dig, just bow your head and kick open a nugget of pure gold, like kicking a prematurely dropped fruit in an orchard.”

   Colbert looked at him like an idiot talking about his dreams.

   How is this possible?

  ———

   Ming Japanese chapter plus more thousand characters.

   (end of this chapter)