I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 134 The work the king offers to the wizards

From a long time ago, Colbert, even Fouquet, or the Bishop of Mazarin discovered that, unlike Louis XIII and the previous kings, their young king never seemed to intend to seek military spending from the common people. Or royal expenditures, whether in exile or back in Paris, the king is like an acrobat walking on a thin tightrope, countless gold-Louis here from rebellious family members or those who need the king's forgiveness. People flowed to the treasury, and from the treasury to the army and those loyal ministers - Bontang can fully understand the king's anger at Fouquet, perhaps because Fouquet saw that the bishop of Mazarin was also rich in his own pocket, but the problem is , Bishop Mazarin left this sinful world, and presented to the king an astonishingly large sum that should have been handed over to the church.

Of course, if Mr. Fouquet is also willing to die and leave all his property to the king, the king will miss him, but even so, the king has not signed his death sentence, and now the chancellor of the exchequer is staying in Bastille, enjoying his life as a prisoner, to Bontang says his life is still better than that of more than 90 percent of the French.

After Mr. Fouquet's property was confiscated, it also became a great help for the king to support the government and the army, but for Bontang, it is impossible for anyone's property to complete this arduous and long task - of course It is rich, but the property of Mr. Bishop and Fouquet is like a lake. It seems that the reserves are considerable, but with continuous absorption, there will always be a day when it will dry up. Only the taxes of the commoners, although very few fall on everyone. , but the strength of tens of millions of people is like a rushing river, and only they can support the great ship of France.

Louis knew what Bontang was thinking. In fact, bankers, supervisors, and lords had already come to test the king's ideas, and wanted to win the post of tax collector, the rich benefits that this position could bring, and even Let their bribes pile up the whole Louvre, but the more they do, the more vigilant the king is. Don't forget, these people who are trying to make money, they pay one now, and they will receive a hundred in the future.

So the young king would rather put a hold on Dunkirk's infrastructure than increase the people's taxes or appoint a new tax collector, or sell a certain area's taxes directly to the bankers, Bontang It is considered merciful to think that the French people are not taxed heavily, and that after several years of civil war, the king did not even raise taxes or increase new taxes, but Louis is not the kind of king who has not left Paris or even the Louvre. Even though he did seldom go out now, the spies he sent out, at his request, continued to report the situation in various parts of France to the king.

Let's put it this way, the war has depleted a lot of the French population, especially the adult men. If Louis did not intend to promote the cultivation of potatoes and sweet potatoes, then there may be a great famine in France now. Now, it can only be said that the people are just Getting a little respite doesn't mean they've been able to withstand another frantic exploitation.

Fortunately, two successive foreign wars, one deterrent, against Spain, and one real, against Italy, were victorious, and Louis did not hesitate to extort a large sum from the Spanish court and the Roman Church, and the Church alone for the redemption The benefits that the Pope has given up are not comparable to the pitiful Liards of the commoners. It is just that Louis may only do so for the time being. As for other kings, they will still choose to squeeze their own people. After all These two wars, once a little careless, will lead to complete destruction. If so, why don't they beat the soles of those despicable people's feet? They don't know how to resist, and they don't dare to resist.

Really? Louis thought in his heart, any creature with wisdom, no, it should be said, with the survival instinct, will it really not show its fangs and claws when it is oppressed to the last step? When Charles I of England was guillotined, the wrath of the monarchs of Europa was still focused on Cromwell, the protector, for whom perhaps their noble sight would never look down.

In fact, not only in the outer world, but also in the inner world. Little Luciano is still a toddler, but he has a place in the council of wizards, and the coat of arms and signs of the Duke of Colonna have also been adopted by the inner world. As people are familiar with, Mrs. Milady walks in the crowd as the Duke's handmaiden, which is more respected and convenient than walking as a free wizard before. Louis remembered the reward she gave not long ago. In the inner world, there are many poor people like the wizard Varo, but after hundreds of years of operation, the solidified class and traditional education methods have also nurtured a group of cowards. Not only do they not want to change the fate of themselves and their descendants, but they also do not want to see others do so. There are more people like Wizards of Varo. They can make some small resistances, such as running away, but their thoughts are still fixed in the Youth and even teenage—but Louis could still start a fire if he wanted to.

But he doesn't, can't, and doesn't want to, he is standing here, as a king, he is destined to be unable to completely betray his class, he is the ruler, and his rule will inevitably continue, from yesterday to tomorrow, from the surface World to world, so he will not make revolutionaries, but a new, more benevolent monarch: "Grow up quickly, little Lucy," he said to himself, and then he would pay attention to The force returned to the instruments in hand, and the surrender of Spain and the Roman Church filled the king's purse again, which had been arranged by the king when the French army entered Rome.

Dunkirk, a city where you can see Britain as long as you stand on the beach, the reason why Cromwell, the British protector, was willing to agree to send an army when Louis XIV was reluctant to admit him, Formed a coalition with the French to attack the Spaniards, only because when the Spaniards occupied Dunkirk, the city became a lair for Spanish looting ships, and as long as Dunkirk was there, most British ships would have a hard time Having escaped the plundering and destruction of Spanish pirates, then the question arises, although this port city now belongs to Louis, wouldn't Louis do that?

how is this possible! Not to mention Bishop Mazarin and Prince Condé, especially the latter, even if the king's life and death was unknown at the time, Condé was a traitor who had just been captured, and they immediately decided to take the right to garrison from the British no matter what. , even if it is only half, this is Louis' original plan. As for Cromwell, if he hadn't been seriously ill at that time, I'm afraid that the British conspiracy would have reached the next step - the next step is to cooperate with the Spaniards, To take Calais in France, yes, that was what Oliver Cromwell originally intended, to take Dunkirk from the Spanish with the French, and then to take Calais from the French with the Spanish, so that the British would With two crucial port cities, one could keep Britain's throat from being choked by the enemy, and the other could threaten both France and Flanders - mainly the Netherlands, Britain's current arch-enemy. .

It is a pity that he still had to obey the call of God and went to heaven, leaving behind Charles II, although people say that the reason why Charles II sold Dunkirk to Louis XIV at such a low price , in order to thank Louis XIV for his help during his exile, but everyone with a discerning eye knows that if it were not for the loss of Cromwell, the new model army in Dunkirk at that time worried that he would be hanged or hanged because he belonged to a traitor. It was hard labor, so that he had no intention of insisting on fighting, and Dunkirk had actually fallen into the hands of the French. This seemingly frivolous and naive monarch would not make this decision.

   He is also a king after all. Therefore, Louis sighed, the British Parliament should not be aggressive towards Charles II. Everyone knows that the so-called transaction is just to save some face and losses for the United Kingdom, otherwise, who can really retake Dunkirk ? Their war with the Dutch is imminent, because the UK was defeated in the first Anglo-Dutch War, so this time the British must use a big victory to wash their shame. There is a possibility of war with France, but out of hostility to the king, the British parliamentarians still dismissed the king's Admiralty Hyde. This behavior can be said to be intentional only to weaken the king's wings. It is too much. Despicable - Charles II complained a lot in his letters, but it's hard to say if it wasn't to seek empathy or sympathy from Louis.

If Charles II wanted to seek military help, at least for now, Louis was out of control, and the same was true of economics - when the first payment from the Duke of Parma arrived, the king immediately appropriated Dunkirk, He has long been ready to enhance Dunkirk's defense from both land and sea. Dunkirk originally had a dock, but the king wanted it to be able to park at least 30 warships, so it may require tens of thousands of labor or more. The source of these laborers is also a problem. As mentioned before, the population of France can also be said to be withering. Although many strong men and women can be recruited in Versailles and the Paris Basin, these people can be said to be The most important bargaining chip in Louis's hands is also the future soldier, or the soldier's mother. He wouldn't use them for this hard but easy labor.

   So what about finding people from outside? It’s difficult. There are many mercenaries, but when the dignitaries still used manor and workshops as their main source of income, they also valued manpower. Now, if you want to find a large number of hard-working laborers, Louis only has two Try, one is a slave, the other is a slave—only one is a black man from the New World, and the other is a wizard from the inner world.

In Calais, when he was with Marie, the king heard her complain more than once that the population of the world had expanded, and some family members were forced to become overseers in the farms, but because all the people working in the fields were They are mortals whose souls have been taken away. In fact, they do not need their supervision. They can only be said to be sent there. As for those foreign wizards, their fate is even more unpredictable and pitiful, but even so , the education and guidance they received still made them dare not leave the inner world, or in other words, they absolutely disdain to live in the outer world like a mortal.

At that time, the king thought that if the magic of wizards could do things that mortals can't do now, he could hire some wizards from the world, and he didn't even have to worry that they would be unwilling to obey the laws and acceptance of mortals. The command of the mortals, there is the Mancini family anyway, and if they only work at night or in a place not seen by mortals, then it will not affect the secrecy that the Beyonders in the inner world and outer world want to maintain.

  ———

Hood is a wizard. He feels that he should not be regarded as a foreign wizard, because his grandfather was a wizard, and he was fortunate to marry a woman from a family, but unfortunately, his bloodline still did not allow him to enter the family. His pedigree map, his name doesn't even have any meaning, his magic power is just mediocre, and his mentor just guides him step by step. He is not only a student of Hood, but also several people, all of whom he needs to be responsible for and guide. In this way, Hood From an ordinary disciple to an ordinary wizard, he was not even allowed to enter the shop, or the manor, let alone the parliament and the court.

Just after he failed again—he tried unsuccessfully to become a patrolman, the news of the Mancini family's intention to recruit some wizards to work in the world of the watch flowed into his ears, and he looked at the crow suspiciously. —It was slowly arranging its feathers, as if the news it had said before was just a meaningless croak, Hood took out a silver coin from his pocket and put it in the small cloth pocket hanging around the crow's neck, "Besides. ," said Hood.

The crow pecked at the small cloth pocket and waited for a while, seeing that it was impossible for him to knock out another silver coin from Hood's pocket, and then quickly repeated it resentfully. This time, Hood heard clearly, This can't help but he is not moved. First, this time is actually a job released by the Mancini family. Second, although he wants to go to the world of watches, he can directly get the money of the world of watches. The money of the world of watches is worth more than the money of the world. Everyone knows this, even if they are exchanged, their value is still better than the coins in the world.

   Then he looked down and saw that the crow was still there, "Oh," he said, "You can go now, winged idiot!  … oh oh!"

  The crow gave him a savage bite and flew away.

   (end of this chapter)