I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 156 Black Death (5)

"The church will not accuse me of a heretic," said Louis, "because this is also a serious sin for the church, please don't forget that according to the church's theory, when I hold the coronation ceremony, the Holy Spirit and I are two. For one, if I'm a heretic, then what's the church?" He went on, "But they're going to use it to blackmail me—if Elaeus isn't sharp enough and my spies aren't alert enough." He sighed softly, It was only after he took power that he realized that there were so many places where money was needed, that he did not immediately place staff in the Roman church - also because of economic difficulties, those priests asked for bribes, more than any envoy or governor. Come and come greedy.

"Fortunately, it is not too late," said the king. "In the outbreak of the plague, we have not allowed the church to take the full initiative." The plan of the Roman church should have been to use the outbreak of the plague to claim that the king had been killed. The devil confuses and points directly to the disrespectful behavior of the king to the Pope and Rome three years ago, just like the threat to the former Charles IV, although the Pope may not be able to directly depose Louis XIV, after all, compared to the chaotic Holy Roman Empire, The king of France has never been elected by the princes. The eldest son of each king is destined to become the master of France, but the Pope can still use this reason to murder the king's capable ministers, to discourage the rebellion of the king's princes, and to expel the king from the church. , to encourage his subjects to refuse to pay taxes and fulfill their obligations to the king.

   The problem is that some people, either because of their stupidity or because of selfishness, will actually do what the church wants.

It's just that when the chess pieces of the church reached the second step, they were already blocked by the king. The appearance of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has proved the piety of the king, and the Black Death has been strictly blocked in the northernmost part of France. Across Pica and the Ardennes, the king has always been kind, which is recognized, but when he faced the Black Death, he became the most ruthless tyrant - if three years ago, he wanted to stop the influx of refugees. Absolutely impossible, but just before Princess Henrietta became the Duchess of Orleans, when the king asked for thirty ships of Calais for dowry, his bachelors and craftsmen had already developed the most rudimentary and basic steam engine, Only a few people know this secret. Colbert, who is in charge of capital investment, the king, several important ministers, researchers and craftsmen have all been placed on the island of Peto. Peto Island is a slender island, hidden in Behind the Boulogne woods.

   We all know what the Bois de Boulogne is, where the occasional visit of the king and his entourage is unnoticed, and they often go straight through the woods, board boats, and enter the heavily guarded Isle of Puteaux.

It can be said that this kind of steam engine came into being first - at first it was just a toy used by bachelors and craftsmen to flatter the king. They probably did not expect that this small toy was enlarged ten times, fifty times one hundred times. At that time, there would actually be a power like a giant—and then there were the thirty Calais ships. Although the Calais ships with iron plates could defend against artillery, their weight was just as the ministers and generals had considered. The sails cannot be driven at all, and can only be moored in the bay, but with the steam engine and the paddle wheel outside, its speed can be comparable to that of ordinary galley warships, but its huge body is equipped with iron plates and iron. After hitting the angle, even without the use of artillery, a wide road can be opened up in the vast sea with only collision tactics.

What the king didn't expect was that when he was still working on the refit of the Calais ship, a major work carried out by these steam engines, that is, drawing iron wires, was originally intended for him to use in construction, who knows that they are still the same. All advanced technologies, like that, first appeared on the battlefield, albeit a battlefield of humans and plagues.

Some people may think that iron wire is an extremely modern thing, but no, it first appeared in 1400 BC, which is the so-called Iron Age - but the production process of iron wire, as far as Louis knows, has not been for hundreds of years. Specifically, the iron ore will first be thrown into a huge boiler along with lignite, ignited, and the molten iron will flow out of the trench and eventually solidify into so-called sponge iron, which the blacksmiths will move back to. Go to your own workshop, smash a piece when you want to use it, burn it in the fire until it softens, and then make various weapons or armor according to the requirements of the customer.

To make iron wire, the iron block is burned into a semi-solidified state like cheese, and then pulled into iron wire with pliers. In order to ensure that the thickness of the iron wire is consistent, they have a special wire drawing board. This kind of wire drawing board, the diameter of the iron wire pulled out is the same, but it can be imagined with the toes that this production method is inevitably inefficient, and it is no wonder that the production cost and time of the chain armor are only affordable by the nobles.

But with the steam engine, the production speed of iron wire is like having wings on it. Although it still requires a lot of labor to be responsible for some of the processes, the iron wire accumulated in the previous two or three years is enough for him to turn the Paris Basin into a Furry hedgehogs, wizards' ravens fly to and fro in the air, patrolling soldiers rush to intercept as soon as they see the crows quacking - the new army prepared before the king is unpredictable by the lords and officials. In the mood, it shows the loyalty and firmness that the army has never had before. Their clothing, weapons and equipment have attracted countless envious eyes. It is also because the shadow of the Black Death has always been on people's hearts. Otherwise, these strong spirits The young man will definitely leave a lot of good themes of romantic affairs.

The Roman church may still be waiting for the king to bow his noble head before the terrible plague, and Louis doesn't know if they have a way to control the rotten bracelets and the plague, but as far as Theoderic and Elarius know about the church, They may have been prepared to leave the people and flee at the worst possible moment, and Rome wasn't the first to be abandoned anyway - but before that, if the king was convicted, France might really be Rome The Church's vassals - the other nations of Europa may not sit at the mercy of the Church at the mercy of a king, but they will certainly want to take advantage of the fire and loot.

The Spanish ambassador has come to see the king before. Obviously, his intentions are not simple. The funny thing is that his master is not the regent Queen Maria or Carlos II, but the illegitimate son Don Juan. Duke.

Compared with the wonderful idea of ​​the Duke of Don Juan - he wants to win love, that is to say, he is willing to marry the three-year-old daughter of the Duke of Orleans at the age of thirty, that is to say, not only is his age a small county. At the same time, he also took away his brother's wife, but since it was a whimsical idea, of course the king would not agree, let alone Don Juan, even Carlos II, unless it was a last resort, Louis also He would not let a small county lord marry a man who could not live without a wet nurse on the throne, not to mention that his mother was the daughter of the Habsburgs, the natural enemy of France, and he was the king of Spain. To add up, if the small county lord marries, it will only be more difficult than the current French queen.

And the Duke of Don Juan, needless to say, is not only because of the great age difference, but in Europa, the status of illegitimate children is always very low, even if the duke has obtained legal status and obtained the title of duke, his The wife is still only possible to choose outside the royal family, unless he can really become the regent of Spain, instead of putting the cart before the horse, first marrying the small county lord of the Duke of Orleans, and then seeking support from France to become the regent.

It's just that for the Duke of Don Juan, in addition to the noble status of the small county lord, he may also covet the small county lord's dowry - Princess Henrietta's dowry is not rich, but the wealth of the Duke of Orleans is quite considerable, some of which, As long as the French king doesn't go too far, it's an extraordinarily rich asset...and in return, the Duke of Don Juan is willing to try to connect his dark lines in Rome to ease tensions between the Church and Louis XIV. It's just that the duke may not know that the king and the Roman church have already stood on two opposite sides, and the church has misestimated Louis' tolerance - this is not a mistake, the nobles at this time have never cared about those who are humble. They may have virtues, but as the Virgin Mary testified, it was definitely not for butchers or maids, and the priests probably felt that the death of thousands of civilians would not necessarily shake the king Will, that's why the Duke of Orleans, the younger brother Philip, was regarded as the rooster that threatened the king.

The king will not reveal this. This view and knowledge is quite beneficial to him now. For example, in order to curb the spread of the Black Death, he not only used barbed wire, bows and muskets, but also gave orders to All supervisors, as long as anyone dares to attack, climb over or sneak into the cordon, will be killed. Some villages and towns that have been confirmed to have been plagued by the Black Death will be burned. If the survivors can obey the order , stay in one place until it is confirmed that no one is sick, then they may still be alive to wait for the king's compensation, but if not...

  Thanks to the still backward communications, people will only wait until the Black Death completely destroys a town again.

Regarding the king's actions, as mentioned above, the people of Paris not only did not think that he was cruel and cruel, but that their king was a man like the saint Michael, who was holy enough, decisive enough, and a flattering painter. Even the face of the king was painted on the archangel holding a flaming sword, and the devil representing the plague was treading under his feet.

The king stood in front of the portrait that was almost equal to his height and sighed for a long time. He really wished that he had the power of a holy angel, so that he would not have to worry about his brother in Nancy, nor for Lorraine. With the inevitable population decline of Alsace in the future, it will be difficult to find day and night.

   "Your Majesty..."

   "Does anyone want to see me? Bontang?"

   "It's the Duchess of Orleans," said Bontang.

Just like the king, in order to avoid suspicion, he seldom went to the residence of the queen mother, so as not to meet the Duchess of Orleans too frequently. The Duchess of Orleans, Princess Henrietta, also rarely went to the east side of the Louvre, that is It is from the place where the king's suite is located, so as not to cause any rumors. After all, Madame Lavalier used to be her personal maid, and some people have been discussing that this maid is likely to be the king to cover up his affair with her. The shield that was erected - she certainly wouldn't love the Duke of Orleans like a woman, nor...she couldn't love the king, she knew from a very young age that no one in the French court agreed with the king and her except her and her mother A possible marriage contract between them.

Before she got married, she was ready to be a peaceful wife. Even if she couldn't get along with her husband like a husband and wife, it would be good to be at least like a friend. Fortunately, the king also talked about this with the Duke of Orleans. , the proud little prince still respected her after marriage, and the Queen Mother Anne was also very kind to her - she meant that compared with Queen Teresa, in short, she thought that her life should not be so fast. Polan - she thought she would face the Duke's lover, a woman, or a man first, and then there might be some enemies inside and outside the court - what she didn't expect was that the first letter she wrote to her brother was for herself husband.

   The Duchess of Orleans came in quickly, and when she saw Louis, she knelt down, and the wide skirt spread out on the silk carpet like petals on the water.

   "Stand up, ma'am," said Louis. "It seems that we have not had a cheerful answer."

   "Yes, they rejected me," said the Duchess of Orléans, looking up, her face haggard like a dead leaf.

  ———

  Charles II laughed in anger.

"Listen," he said dryly; "listen, gentlemen," he said to his bodyguards and attendants, "my sister married the Duke of Orleans for England, and her marriage won for England a powerful Allies, now, she's asking us for help so that she doesn't lose her husband, her daughter doesn't lose her father, and I don't lose a friend and brother-in-law that I grew up with, and then you see the response from the council. "He shook the record in his hand, "Although it is high-sounding, although the words are conclusive, but don't read too much, everyone, there is a sentence in it, they are having a carnival!"

   "For the disaster of France!" he shouted, his voice even a little too high-pitched, which made everyone in the room shudder. "They were elated and in high spirits. They were like a flock of hateful vultures, hovering over the dead, waiting for the first bite of fresh meat! Not a little pity, not a little mercy! They, ah, they, these A devil-like man turns out to be the ruler of Britain! God, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an angel right now, armed with a thunderbolt, and knocking everyone to pieces in the House!"

   (end of this chapter)