I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 157 Black Death (6)

   "But..." an attendant boldly persuaded: "Your Majesty, France is our enemy after all."

"I have heard a saying that there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends," Charles II unexpectedly fell silent: "The reason why we want to marry Henrietta to France is because we are in When fighting against Holland, we don't want Holland to have an ally like France, and until the end of our war with Holland, this covenant needs to be maintained, but they still refuse Henrietta's request, why?" He viciously Smiling and looking around, "because they know very well that Louis, as a king, was born to stand with me, so they can bow with the French, but not with a king. Whether he is French or English, He looked out the window. "Why, everyone, don't you understand? Their rejection was because of me, not because of France."

These deputies are also blackmailing King Louis XIV of France, asking him to stop interfering in the struggles between Charles II and the nobles, whether it is money, troops or equipment, in the final analysis, they still regard their king as an enemy, Oliver Cromway Er's head hangs on the spire of the cathedral, and more heads may be hung in the future.

Charles II has such a desire, but he also knows that it is difficult to do it. If he is not careful, he is the second Charles I. The people of London have already killed a king, and they will not care. Killing the second, he can now finally understand why Louis announced his mourning for his father, Charles I, when he was executed. This is not just a mourning for a relative, but also a mourning for a king for a king He also finally understood why Louis was always reluctant to recognize the legitimacy of the Protector Oliver Cromwell. Even in the Battle of Dunkirk, France and the United Kingdom formed a coalition, but the people who came to greet the Protector Still only the attendants of Bishop Mazarin.

"It's probably like the difference between a tiger who has never tasted blood and a tiger who has tasted blood." He recalled what Louis said when talking about another trivial matter, "A tiger who has hunted people must be killed. , whether it is old, seriously ill, or injured, or very young, because the tiger will remember the smell of its prey, it will remember, this is the smell of flesh and blood, this is the food, and it will never be forgotten."

He was right, thought Charles II, that the people were tigers who had tasted the blood of the king, who in their eyes was no longer a noble monarch, a half-god, but a mortal man who could be humiliated, beaten, How could condemned sinners truly respect their king, or any monarch, in that case? They don't, they just need one... a decoration, a chip, a scapegoat.

  Charles II's sudden silence left his attendants at a loss. After looking at each other for a while, one of them was about to suggest that the king go to a new salon to relax, but at this moment, the door was knocked.

   The Duke of Albimar couldn't even wait for the announcement from his attendants, so he strode in. As soon as he entered, he first bowed to Charles II, and then said quickly: "Your Majesty, London... There is a black patient in the port area of ​​London."

  Charles II couldn't even understand what the Duke of Albimar was saying: "Paris?" He asked subconsciously. Weren't they still talking vehemently about the Black Death that was rampant in northern France?

   "No, London," said the Duke of Albimar, completely contrary to the expectations of Charles II. His expression was serious as if he were not joking again: "The port area, Your Majesty."

The port area - the most chaotic area in London, even more than the slums of Paris, where everyone has everything, and because it is full of countless prostitutes, sailors and merchants always love to go there, where the plague first The outbreak is not surprising at all, even natural, but... But as soon as the news of the Black Death came, the British Navy cut off the British and French routes at sea, and even the ship that Princess Henrietta's messenger was on was almost sunk, not to mention Speaking of ordinary merchant ships and fishing boats, the Black Death could not have crossed the sea.

"Block there... no, no, no, please take your army with you at once," said Charles II hastily. "No matter what the deputies say, it doesn't matter, they will not live in the port area. Block there, duke, and I will write it with my own hand. Issue an order that all who want to leave there will be put to death--wait, bring pen and paper!" He called eagerly to his squire, "slow down, sire," said the Duke of Albimar: " My nephew has gone with the army, and now, you should first write a letter to the king of France, it is said that their doctors have developed a very effective medicine to prevent the plague from invading the human body..."

  Charles II put down the quill with a snap. "You have rejected Louis XIV," he said.

   "Oh, it's nothing," Duke Albimar finally showed his politician's true colors: "We can pretend that nothing happened, or take this issue as your clerical error."

   Crucially, they were a little late when they knew that the Black Death had invaded England, and a little late when they knew that the French actually had a cure against it.

Charlie's hand stopped there, and the expression on his face was half a smile. He just said that he was a scapegoat, but he didn't expect to fulfill this statement so soon: "It's nothing," he said calmly: " I'll get used to it anyway, but tell them, duke, that I'll bring Sir Morley back to court." Sir Morley was also a trusted minister of Charles II, but, like Hyde, he became Parliament. A thorn in the eye, but this man is extremely cautious and intelligent. He was only expelled from the court a few days ago for a crime that amounted to half-imposed, and I am afraid that he has not left London yet.

   "This is your country."

"not quite."

The Duke of Albimar looked at Charles II - he once supported Oliver Cromwell, unfortunately Cromwell let him down, he turned to support Charles II, but Charles II conflicted with Parliament It has become the biggest internal conflict in England, but on this point, he can't completely stand on Charles II's side, because he knows very well what kind of monster that all power in the hands of one person will make that person become, but As a king, even if he is regarded as a playboy, known as the "Happy King", the "banquet king" Charles II is also a monster, especially when he lived in Paris for a period of time and saw with his own eyes how the French King Louis XIV was He took the power back to his own hands step by step, and knew that today, Louis has not stopped the pace of concentrating royal power.

  It is not surprising that Charles II had such ambitions.

   "Write it, Your Majesty," he said finally, "I will do everything in my power to get him back to you."

  ——

And when Charles II dropped the first letter on the parchment, the Duke of Orléans was also writing a letter, to be more precise, he was writing—the last letter to his brother, his last testament, Although he believed that his brother would not give up on him, Louis was still a king after all, not a god. He could not save anyone from the sky, so the Duke of Orleans had already prepared for the worst.

As soon as he looked up, he could see the red flames shining on the glass windows. These people probably felled all the trees around Nancy. He remembered his brother and some of the things he complained about. Tall trees cannot be left around, lest the enemy use them as siege weapons, so from the Louvre to the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, even the New Palace in Versailles, the first piece proposed by the designer The matter is also to cut down all the surrounding jungles, which makes the king both helpless and angry. Of course, he refused this request. In Louis's words, if he is in power, he must rely on the castle to ensure his safety. , then he might as well be beheaded like Charles I.

Philip found that he could understand what his brother meant, and his brother would not allow himself to fall into the same fate as Charles II. Although the latter was also a king, the power enjoyed by this king was probably not as great as that of a member of parliament. The parliament contempt The king, also feared the king, two emotions that made them unscrupulously suppress their monarch - as a vicious circle, Charles II's hostile attitude became more and more obvious, of course, this is a good thing for France, just like Dunn. Kirk, if the king and courtiers of England can agree to the outside world, it will not be so cheap, and it will even take another battle for France to get it.

   "I'm surprised," a voice suddenly sounded behind the Duke of Orleans: "Your Highness, is there anything else that can make you laugh now?"

   The Duke of Orleans calmly inserted the quill back into the ink bottle, then stood up and turned to face the uninvited guest: "Who are you?"

   "Theoderic of Vanderbilt," said the man.

   "You are not Theoderic, not even a Vandragh." The Duke of Orleans said: "I ask again, who are you, and do you need my help with anything?"

This sentence made the coming, no, it should be said, the vampire who came to laugh for a long time, "no," he said, "although I don't know why you think I should not be Theoderic, but you seem to have Wrong situation, now you need my help, not I need yours."

   "Then who are you? Sir, it would be rude not to give your name, or to lie in front of a duke."

   "I am a Zmich."

   "Prince Amon?"

   "Ah," Amon said happily: "You haven't seen me, but you have heard my name. Did His Majesty the King ever mention me to you?"

   "Yes," said the Duke of Orleans bluntly, "Brother said, if possible, when I see you, stay away from you as much as possible. If possible, it is best not to pay attention to you."

So Amon burst into another hysterical laugh, and then, wiping tears that didn't exist, he looked at the Duke of Orleans with those scarlet eyes from between his fingers. Seriously, since he saw Louis , a heart that is no longer beating is all placed on this majesty, but who knows, his younger brother is actually so cute, he even regrets not seeing this majesty earlier - "I thought you still A child," he said, and then he saw the Duke of Orleans straighten his back proudly, and the vampire laughed uncontrollably again, indeed, the brothers were taller than average for the French now There are many lines. "How excellent," he murmured, "It seems that this time I will not come back without success."

   He turned his head, as if he wanted to say something to the Duke of Orleans, but what came towards him turned out to be a short crossbow arrow exuding a chilly air.

In this era when the firing speed of muskets is still unsatisfactory, the defensive weapon beside the king and the duke is still the crossbow. He grabbed the short crossbow arrows from the scorpion, "It's a little cold," he said softly, "Your Highness, I need a little blood."

"Can I do it?" Another voice replied, the fire from outside the window suddenly disappeared, Amon's mouth twitched, and the glass was densely populated with small bats, and then there was a rubbing sound, the glass cracked, and the bat rushed into the house, instantly occupies every corner of the room.

Theoderic stood in front of Amon angrily, "The Zmish family's domain is in the Carpathians," he said: "If you continue to haunt the king of France and his relatives, I will question you. Are you deliberately provoking the Fan Zhuo family?"

"There's no way," Amon said, removing the hand covering his left eye, the blood slowly disappeared from his skin, the eye blinked, and it was as intact as the previous one, "John II. Kazimierz (note 1) is a stupid and incompetent pig, he is about to lose Zmich's territory, and I just want to make him ham."

Although he knew it shouldn't be, there was still a slight smile on Theoderic's lips. After he heard a loud laugh, he thought it was his own mistake - it's a bit rude to laugh at a king, but He then discovered that it was the Duke of Orleans, and his brother Philip was laughing.

   "Why," Philip looked at them, a little puzzled: "Shouldn't I be laughing?"

  When he was sorting out the information, he laughed once.

  Note 1: John II Kazimierz was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Captured by the French for fighting with the Habsburgs against France in the Thirty Years' War, he was imprisoned for two years. After the death of his brother Wladyslaw IV, he was elected King of Poland (1648). During his reign, he faced an uprising by the Ukrainian Cossacks. In 1654 Russia raised troops to support the Cossacks, and in 1667 was forced to cede Eastern Ukraine to Russia. In 1655 Sweden attacked Poland and Poland lost northern Livonia.

   (end of this chapter)