I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 190 Saint Denis (9)

However, Leopold I knew that he had suffered the biggest setback since he came to power. Fortunately, the Netherlands did not need to say much, and Switzerland, which originally belonged to the Habsburg family, was sure to rely on the Holy Roman Empire in this alliance-to-alliance game. Not France, the same is true of the Oldenburg family in Denmark, as for the Roman Church, after the previous humiliation, they will never support the French king, the problem is, Alexander VII is said to be seriously ill and will go soon See God - Leopold I had to devote a part of his energies to it, after all, he was not without enemies in the church.

The French king, who is far away in Lille, will be much happier. The road through Brussels has been leveled, and the armaments, supply points and resting places along the way have also been determined and clarified. The king's guards set out one day first. , and then the king's caravan. When leaving Lille, Louis did not ride, but sat in the carriage, casually flipping through the papers in his hand, and the Viscount Turenne, who was sitting opposite him, bowed and opened the curtain a little. , looking out at the people of Lille, who had been compelled to come and cheer and bow down when the king entered Lille, and as they left, "Look," he said softly: "Your Majesty, their eyes are full of hatred."

   "This is the best compliment for us." Louis said without looking up.

   Viscount Turenne let out a loud laugh and lowered the curtain, "Your Majesty, don't read documents on the carriage, it's not good for your eyes."

   "Oh, I thought Bontang wasn't here, so I could be more casual," said Louis, but he put the papers aside graciously: "When are we supposed to be in Brussels?"

   "We will arrive tonight," said Viscount Turenne. "Captain Vauban is looking forward to your arrival."

   "Speaking of this, tell me," the king asked with a sullen face: "Didn't Vauban build another huge platform for me?"

   "Why, don't you like it?" said Viscount Turenne.

"But it makes me feel like a cruel king." Louis gave him a quick look and made a gesture. He wanted to name a few Roman emperors, but seriously, the dying Roman emperor was too much Less, he really didn't want to curse himself in this extraordinary world, but he really felt like he was watching a **** fight, even more than those ancients who used the life and death of a gladiator as a source of joy. Roman.

  Viscount Turenne pondered for a while, and then understood the king's thoughts, "I think you should treat it as a magnificent and brilliant performance."

   "Show?"

"Yes, everyone here is fighting for you, for France, and their death is far nobler than death by famine, plague, or crime, and while they are fighting for you, they know Your own family will not be displaced, knowing that their parents, children and wives will not starve, which you have bestowed upon them, and they will not have to worry about going to **** when they die because there is no priest to do the sacrament of death for them , and don't have to worry about howling after being wounded, dying naked in the mud, you have done all the things no king has ever done, you are a saint, Your Majesty, I can assure you, under your splendor, Even the most cowardly cowards have great courage, even if they face the most vicious enemy, and when they charge forward, to feel your eyes upon them is like a blessing from God , so that they can face everything without fear.”

   "You are exaggerating." Even Louis couldn't help but feel a little blush.

   "Oh, Your Majesty, I'm short-lived, and I can't say one-tenth of it. You should go and see your soldiers, and you'll know that what I said is not a lie."

   "I will." This is exactly what Louis planned. Tomorrow will be the most important and final battle for Flanders. There may be many soldiers here that he will never see again.

  ———

When the king arrived at Waterloo on the south side of Brussels, as Viscount Turenne said, it was already dusk, the twilight was low, and only where the sky and the earth intersected there was still a white line of afterglow. Waterloo is a small town, of course it cannot afford it. Tens of thousands of French soldiers were stationed, so the tents of soldiers and officers stretched for miles outside the town, and the king rested for a while in the best house in the town, and set off for the camp—"but you still There's no supper." Bontang said, raising his cloak and serving by the king's side for so many years, and he was also familiar with the king's style. Louis did not like someone who rebelled or went against the yin, regardless of whether the starting point was good or bad, like It is now that Bontang can remind him, but cannot say, Your Majesty, you should go to the barracks after dinner.

   "I'm going to see what the soldiers are eating, and I'll eat with me." Louis said casually.

   He left Bontang in the room - Bontang still had a lot to do, such as the king having to bathe before going to bed, which was no easy task in this small, isolated town.

As soon as the king left the room, two priests followed closely, and a group of attendants, some of whom were musketeers whom the king trusted, some were the second or third sons of the ministers, and some—everyone knew it, but No one will say, the Italian wizard from Gayola disguised as a student of the Colonna family.

They were so prepared to guard against the dark wizards from Flanders. Although the king of France had been on an expedition for some time, and the laurels of victory were within reach, the dark wizards seemed to have been burnt out. , motionless, no response, in the city they captured, the wizards only found some dangerous remnants - like the portrait-like thing, they are disgusting, but not much lethal. The wizards of Gayola are not comfortable with this - the dark wizards of Spain survived the heavy siege in the Inquisition, not because they are cute - they are not only evil, but also chaotic, almost all of them are crazy .

If it weren't for the past few years, the wizards of Gayola have also been in and out of the court from time to time, learning a lot from the mortals they disdain, and they would even persuade the king to return to Paris, but they also know now that if they don't take that The Golden Fleece, the king, and even all the whole of France has paid for it in vain, and even the glory of the king will become bleak.

The king understood what the wizards were thinking, and he temporarily put it all in another place, and he was greeted warmly by Vauban a thousand feet from the barracks - also to save the king from some who knows how it could exist. The fools intercepted, the concrete parapets and forts were lit with torches, the wooden fences were removed, and the patrols either stopped by the roadside and bowed to the king, or turned away...the king to the faces reddened by the fire. Nodding slightly, the ostrich feathers on his hat trembled because of this. He would occasionally stop and ask the name of an officer, and the young man would definitely be so excited that his voice trembled.

"Although I'd love to talk to our lad," said the king, smiling, "I'm really hungry, and I smell a tantalizing aroma—your dinner must be getting ready. "

   "Yes, Your Majesty!" said Vauban proudly: "I ordered them to start cooking an hour ago, and everything should be ready by now."

   "What do you eat?" the king asked seemingly casually, "Can you add me?"

  Viscount Turenne glanced at Vauban. Vauban hesitated for a while, but then he raised his head: "It's a great honor, Your Majesty!"

Vauban's boldness is not without reason. Before Louis, the supply of the army, especially for the soldiers, was not very decent. As mentioned earlier, during the Thirty Years' War, the troops of the kings of Europa were still hired. The army is the main thing, of course, don't expect mercenaries to have discipline or morality, no, it should be said that mercenaries with these two things have long starved to death, because the employers and generals of mercenaries always deduct their commissions To be happy with supplies, to survive, to gain a little life for themselves, the mercenaries have to loot, their food and clothing are taken from the way, the village or the city dwellers who are stationed and conquered. , they eat what they have, and when they are marching, they will eat jerky and biscuits - yes, the kind of biscuits we know well, but the biscuits used as military supplies have only the simplest prototype - no yeast added. Flour, add milk, or bake twice with water, adding sugar or salt if possible.

In Louis's army, there were biscuits too, and a new word was invented for it, "twice-baked bread" biscuit - French for bis (once again) and cuit (to bake), and because corn was grown on a scale , sugar and salt are added generously in it, but this is emergency food, and the soldiers will carefully pack it in their luggage even if they get it. They now have three extravagant meals a day, including porridge, bread, cured meat and cheese. .

Bread and cured meats were only available at noon, and it was night, so there was only porridge and cheese, and even so, it was a good meal for the soldiers - porridge, but rather a thick soup, which contained Crushed carrots, wheat kernels, beans and small pieces of cured meat, with butter before serving, hot, full of wooden cups, served with roasted potatoes, roasted potatoes do not need the cook to be busy, the soldiers use The bayonet goes through the potatoes without even washing them, roasting them directly over a campfire, and eating them when cooked - only some sergeants carefully peel the potatoes or let them pass in water before roasting.

The officers did not dine with the soldiers, they had their own tents, and the meals were richer and more refined than the soldiers, Vauban introduced the king into the tent, and the king used his silver cutlery - the king turned over the back of a fork , I found that there is still a small coat of arms engraved on it. Well, Vauban does not have its own coat of arms now - Vauban's grandfather was also a lord and had his own castle, but because of the primogeniture law, it is only the second son's Bang's father could only stay away from his homeland, relying on his own mind and hands to start his own business. Vauban could become a lieutenant in the army and exhausted the family's money - but since the king wanted to use Vauban, he would not know him ignorant. , the coat of arms on this is also not from Vauban's family, Vauban noticed the sight of the king, "a gift." He said without shame, the king laughed, for this ambitious young man , this may just be a trivial trophy, he used it carelessly, on the battlefield.

It is impossible for the king, not even Viscount Turenne and Captain Vauban to gather with the soldiers to eat and drink, but the king still tasted the "porridge soup" and let the picky people taste it. This porridge soup is not only greasy , and rough (caused by the grains of wheat and beans inside), carrots were requested by the king, because people at this time often suffered from night blindness due to lack of vitamin A, and he did not want his soldiers to become blind at night , but after the carrots are boiled, the taste and touch are really unbelievable. Occasionally, you can eat a little cured meat, but it is similar to sawdust. What’s more, also by the king’s order, this porridge soup is added with Enough salt, so—very salty.

But this can increase the strength of the soldiers, and it is also the reason why people unanimously praise the generosity of the king - France itself has salt production, mainly in the Mediterranean area and Brittany, so the price of salt is not as good as pure inland areas It is expensive, but it is not something that ordinary people can squander at will. Some people only add a lot of salt to the first meal every morning, because the next day, men have to work. Without salt, there is no strength. In the evening the meal becomes bland, but in the king's army, let alone salt, they can even eat sugar.

The king kept his meals in moderation in the evening, but Captain Vauban and Viscount Turenne ate several plates of baked potatoes, soup and cheese, and roasted quail—very fresh, for the soldiers had caught them when they set up their tents, and There are snakes, rabbits and moles.

After the simple meal, the king went to visit the wounded camp again. Because the soldiers who were wounded before stayed in Lille, the camp here was still empty, and only one soldier who was bitten by a snake was being treated by a witch. - In fact, when they entered, the treatment had been interrupted or finished, and what the king had guessed was the uneasy look of the bohemian woman, and the bright ring of salt by the bed - salt was not a rare thing in the army Things, but it cannot be wasted arbitrarily, but salt has an irreplaceable role in witchcraft, mainly to remove evil and filth. Snake venom can also be regarded as a kind of filth, so using salt is indeed a good way.

   You can tell from the fact that this soldier not only had a ruddy face, but even stood up and saluted the king.

   (end of this chapter)