I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 180 Louis XIV's first expedition! (5)

Manit came in a caravan, like the Bosnians and the Gypsies or the Flamengues or the Tzgans (as they were called in various countries) elsewhere, When people saw them, they thought that this group of thieves, swindlers, and wicked women had come to do something wrong, and their motorcade was stopped within a few leagues of the hunting palace, if not all of them were witches. There's no way to enter Versailles - and since they came in struttingly, they can't help but make the officers and generals a bit afraid. Although the inner world is still heavily veiled, the people of this era admit that there are devils and demons. Existing - In addition, these people also insisted that they were hired by the king, and also reported the name of the king's doctor, Varo Vesalius, Vesalius would not appear in the royal meeting, but his name Lois has also heard.

"Oh, I know about this," the king said to his ministers with a smile, "you go and arrange them," he thought for a moment, "and treat them as a special team of mercenaries, but you don't need to go too far. Keep them in check, and don't let others disturb them."

In the past, there were also kings or generals who distributed women as trophies or condolences before wars or after triumphs, and the mighty "names" followed the army from time to time until the twentieth century. Not surprised, but he didn't quite understand why the king would choose a group of bohemian women, yes, for many people, it is a too high-profile behavior to let bohemian women even do this kind of work- Not to the former, and then to the latter, but since the king said so, Lois has no intention of vetoing.

The Witches of Bohemia caused a small stir when they came to Versailles, they were much more gorgeous and younger than ordinary women, even those who wandered the streets, and the Bohemians Always a representative of indulgence - to be precise, they have their own laws and morals, and these are not recognized by non-bohemians - the king heard a few days later that many soldiers had a bohemian Wife, this kind of marriage, which is more like a joke, is very simple, as long as the men and women who like each other go to the public to announce that they are married, and when they want to separate, they only need to say divorce.

Although these soldiers were attracted by these beautiful and enthusiastic girls, these witches were also bewitched by these soldiers. They had been living in the deep forests such as Conflan or in rare places, where life Needless to say how poor it is, the soldiers here, even the newcomers to Versailles, are well-off because of the generous gifts of the king, and as we all know, Paris is not far from Versailles, and Paris has now almost become a city. The Palace of Nations, where you can see anything you see anywhere else, and what you don't see anywhere else, where fashions and ideas continue to flow from France to every country.

"Madame Milady." Lois bowed to the lady with moving red lips and eyes as gleaming as the lake in the middle of the night. This is the "Lady of the Royal Family" who has not been recognized, although not as Madame Lavalier has a title and annuity like that, but this lady also haunts the king's bedroom from time to time, which makes it impossible for others to underestimate this woman who is said to be from a rather poor background.

"Mr. Lois," Milady glanced at each other with a smile, they were not qualified to live in the king's hunting palace, so this is a farmhouse that Milady rented from the residents of Versailles, said it was a farmhouse , is also a neat two-story building. Milady is not at all surprised why the people here are so loyal to the king. More than ten years ago, they were still homeless people with nothing but their own body and soul. On the terrace, looking out, under the deep night is the faint white outline of the new palace - even if the war is imminent, the construction of the Versailles Palace has not stopped, and countless craftsmen are still busy on the huge construction site, tens of thousands of people. The torches made the high ground look like it was on fire. "Come on, sir," said Milady, "I know you always go to the Three Treasures Hall with everything."

   Such straightforward words made Lois frown, "I'm for... those bohemian women."

   "What's the matter," Milady gently shook the fan in his hand: "Did they cause any harm to you?"

   "What can they do to me?" said Lois. "The problem is that they are marrying the king's soldiers."

   "Everyone knows that," Milady said indifferently: "It's just a game."

"Some are, some are not." Angry parents approached the officers and asked them to expel these bohemian women, because some soldiers were seriously thinking about baptizing their lover and actually marrying her into the family. , if they are still refugees, then forget it, but the people of Versailles now hardly regard people outside Paris, even if the guests come from Lyon or Provence, they will only contemptuously call them provincials, and How could he allow his beloved son to marry a Bohemian.

   And the battle was imminent, he was also worried that these Bosnian women would affect the courage and loyalty of the soldiers.

"Don't worry," Milady said, "these Bohemians are going to the battlefield too, just not with you." Her eyes and ears were much sharper than Lois, when she heard that there were many witches Even after being with the soldiers, she also thought about whether to stop it, but it took almost only a few minutes, and she decided not to interfere, why, because she remembered what the king had said to her, the king said , In this world, the most beautiful is often the shortest, and because of the shortest, it is also the most precious, and the most proof of this is love.

The witches of Bohemia were coerced by the king, but they never thought of changing themselves. They still maintained the habits and traditions of the Bohemians, among which were bold and enthusiastic, and love. Pursuit - The King also once said that a love relationship lasts no more than ninety days, how funny, that's exactly how long the Battle of Flanders is expected to take...

  Lois was puzzled, but fortunately the army was going to be fully deployed today. In this case, those deeply troubled parents could not catch up. As for what happened next, we will talk about it later.

He said goodbye to Madame Milady and went back to his place, of course, he couldn't rest too early, and when he left Paris was when he really got busy - the king gave him and Cole the quarters of the army Bell, although it is said that there is still Colbert, but in fact, Colbert's energy is mainly invested at home and abroad, and the most important work is the accompanying Lois, Lois and his father, who is now. The Minister of War has mobilized all resources and contacts for this purpose. He cleverly marked the places the king will pass as points, and then divided them into parts according to the length of the journey and the marching speed of the army. The supplies and equipment needed by the army are also Instead of getting ready together, traveling thousands of miles from various places to Paris, and then following the king to Flanders, it is to go to the pre-booked supply point nearby, which can not only reduce the loss during transportation, but also will not drag the army down .

Just like this, there are more places to pay attention to, and all kinds of things can happen, heavy rain, fire, theft and robbery, or the oversight of the supervisor or the lord... So Lois has something to do every day. work, but when he focused his attention on the parchment, he couldn't help sighing - his father's suggestion was confirmed today, and he couldn't help but feel a little troubled. Compared with muskets and swords, of course, it is the The monsters that hide in the dark.

I don't know when it started, it seems that there are more and more such things - witches, werewolves and devils, although they appeared occasionally in the past, but most of them were in people's mouths, and now... whether it is France, or Elsewhere in Europa, talking about this, people even acted as if they were commonplace, instead of panicking as they were ten years ago.

Lois didn't know whether this trend was good or bad - Madame Milady's answer made his heart palpitate, if these Bohemian women were the "extraordinary" soldiers the king had prepared for the war, there would be hundreds of them at a glance. A lot... a number that is almost comparable to that of the King's Dragon Knight Company. Does it mean that there will be such a large number of extraordinary people on Flanders' side to participate in this war? Lois couldn't believe it. Although he knew more and more things as his status climbed, this conjecture still sent chills all over him.

  ———

The king knew nothing about Lois' troubles. Compared with the affair of the Bosnian witch, he paid more attention to the arrangement and arrangement of the main route of the march and the warehouses and military stations on the border line proposed by Lois. All the way to the south, the soldiers and mercenaries of the provinces also joined in. When they left Paris, they numbered about 30,000, and now there are about 50,000. Of these 50,000, the king is divided into three parts and eight. The thousand men were led by the Duke of Orleans, and with Dunkirk as their stronghold, they attacked Courdecaire, and then the Prince of Condé led 12,000 men, and the Prince of Condé and his close friend, the Duke of Luxembourg, attacked Luxembourg (this territory although Nominally owned by the Duke of Luxembourg, but still in the hands of the Spaniards), and then took Luxembourg as a stronghold and attacked Elrond, while he led the rest of the troops and marched directly to Lille.

Choosing Flanders as the first battle of his own expedition, Louis is not without consideration, compared to his old enemy England, and Spain, which is like an enemy despite his in-laws, or Holy Rome, who is destined to become an opponent. Empire, although Flanders is nominally ruled by Spain, it is separated from Spain by an entire France. Now Spain is unable to mobilize an army to garrison in Flanders, and the situation there is not even as well understood as the French. In the spy's report, it is rare to mention that Flanders has any indestructible fortresses and city walls, so for Louis, Flanders is the best material for him to test his hands in the military.

Moreover, Louis did not think that he had any talent in the military. He kept Viscount Turenne by his side and would not interfere with the actions of the army over Viscount Turenne. A splendid banner is used to boost morale and intimidate the enemy, not to actually go to the battlefield to make your enemies happy and your subjects annoyed.

  In this way, like the shadow cast by the heavy clouds on the ground, the arrow of the army pointed slowly and steadily to the first city, Charleroi.

At this time, Charleroi was still a small town, just to defend against possible, no, now identified enemies. The Spaniards built a castle here. The castle faces the French-Spanish border and is located by the Sable River. The castle did not function as the builders had hoped, and the mayor of Charleroi just climbed up the wall and hurriedly glanced at the soldiers as dense and numerous as the wheat in the fields, and his face turned pale. The ground fainted, and when people finally woke him up with smelling salts and wine, he made the expected decision - surrender to the French.

As I said before, because in the fourteenth century, the Count of Flanders, who was a vassal, was extremely good at looting. Once the overwhelmed people rioted, he hired or asked the French king to send troops to suppress it. People did not welcome the French, the question is whether they want to welcome them now, the walls of Charleroi are low and ancient, and can't withstand the bombardment of artillery hundreds of years later, the mayor wisely took it. Take out the silver key representing the ownership of the city, put it in a velvet tray, open the city gate, and offer the city to the king.

Because of the lessons of Dunkirk, even if Charleroi is a small town, Viscount Turenne has been very careful to sort it out several times. It can be seen that the people who were driven from their homes to the squares and streets were even more Angry, but untransformed into power, anger is as useless as the smoke of flames, and the people here bow respectfully under the gaze of muskets and swords as the king's carriage rolls over the stones of the street.

The silver key, the symbol of the city, was not even touched by the king, he was collected by the Viscount Turenne, and then passed on to Bontang, and then the mayor presented precious gifts - such as silverware and jewelry. Things, these are also placed elsewhere, and the king will not see them anyway.

But the king still saw something strange. It was a statue of a saint about a foot square. It hung above the hearth in the castle hall, three people above the ground, but neither the canvas nor the frame had any smoke or age. Traces, not even traces of cobwebs and rat bites, brightly coloured, stylised and familiar – exactly those Bosch paintings that the Duke of Gaston had brought to France from Flanders.

   At the king's insistence, the two monks took off the painting, and after examining it, shook their heads at the king, indicating that no curse had been placed on it.

"Hieronymus Bosch," said the king, although he had no signature, no one could have painted such a ridiculous picture--it looked like a saint, but the saint was surrounded by several naked devils, holding a chalice, Serpents flow from the Holy Grail—the images are small, but the devil is still alive, as if he were about to jump out of the picture at any moment.

"I don't know very well, Your Majesty," said the mayor, and the king's face was expressionless. He did not know what the noble man was thinking, and could only be more careful: "This painting has been hanging here for a long time—about another two hundred years, because . . . Because it was hung very high, no one thought about taking it off later."

  The king did not speak, he threw the portrait to the ground, and kicked it into the burning hearth.

  ——

  The wizard stepped back, barely dodging the sudden flames.

The fire illuminated his face, a square face, with eyebrows and sideburns as black as coal, a livid complexion reminiscent of white tin or beeswax rather than anything alive, and he stood up. , heard a sneer: "Oh," said the visitor, "what makes our Mr. Hieronymus Bosch so embarrassed?"

  Bose didn't care about the other's sarcasm: "I saw him."

   "King of France, Louis XIV."

   (end of this chapter)