I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 244 Necessary Decision

How much wealth Louis XIV finally grabbed from Holland and Flanders, no one knows. People only know that Colbert, the king's most trusted minister of finance, stayed in Amsterdam for 30 days before he was finally able to escape and return. Paris, and his department officials stayed until the Viscount Turenne re-entered Amsterdam to assist him with the subsequent work before leaving—probably more than a year.

Ironically, there were even Dutch caravans, which ceased to exist while they were still at sea, and were caught between a rock and a hard place - but in the end had to go back to Amsterdam or The Hague, Jean Thiret The Viscount was surprised that there were even two large ships loaded with spices, the value of the goods was about two hundred thousand livres, if they arrived in Amsterdam a few months early, or Prime Minister Werther, or William III. Still in Amsterdam, France may really have to return empty-handed this time. After all, 200,000 livres, in the hands of a decisive monarch, can completely control the situation of the battle, at least it can be delayed until Leopold I's coalition forces fight against it. The French army posed a threat and oppression.

But this is all later. At this time, Louis XIV was still on his way back to Paris. After the Battle of Amsterdam, the Duke of Orleans was asked by the king to go back to Blois first. It was not the king who had anything to do with his brother. Suspicion, but he has been worried about the development of the smallpox vaccine by his doctors and medical researchers in the letters he received before. He couldn't easily set foot in such a dangerous place, but because the matter was so important that he didn't believe anyone except Philip. It is no exaggeration to say that if this happened a hundred years ago, it was very likely Known as a holy miracle.

The Duke of Orleans returned to his brother with good news. Because the medical school is located in Blois, it is very likely that he will also be in charge of it. This young duke can be said to be in high spirits— He said to his brother, "What a huge amount of income this will be." The king couldn't help laughing at it. Indeed, without the trade-off between religion and politics, this is also a business with amazing economic benefits. Others Not to mention, the number of kings who died of smallpox is no longer rare. Just like William II, the father of William III, he is said to have died of smallpox in children, and every time a smallpox broke out, he would take away hundreds to tens of thousands of people. The population of waiting, although not as desperate as the Black Death, is also as terrifying as the devil.

Especially now in the whole of Europa, only Blois has a cure for smallpox - to be precise, the vaccine, they used human and cow's pox as a vaccine, and they succeeded - the people in those three villages, from then on, probably have For many years, they have not even been able to get out of the Blois Valley for half their lives, just like those craftsmen who were imprisoned by the Venetians on the island in order to keep the secret of mirror making, but they have nothing to pity, they can be in their own homes. It is much more comfortable to spend the years afterward without worrying about food and clothing, compared to farmers or craftsmen who have to work hard all day long for their stomachs.

Those thugs who dared to attack the king's doctor do not have this privilege. They are now in the underground prison of Blois Castle, waiting for them with endless experiments. This kind of behavior is not uncommon at this time, let alone In Blois, even in Paris, the material used by medical students to practice is mostly criminals, living and dead.

The Duke of Orléans may have been away from His Majesty the King for too long before. From the time the King saw him, to having meals together, to going to bed, the King's ears were almost always his voice, until Louis told him bluntly that he needed one. In the quiet sleeping environment, he stopped unwillingly - "Where's my nephew?" he asked.

   "In Paris," said Louis.

   "I mean the Duke of Colonna," said the Duke of Orleans.

"I asked him to go back to Gayola." Louis took the robe that the duke handed him over, "this time the wizards of Gayola didn't do badly in the war against Flanders and the Netherlands, I let him Go back with my reward - and let him pick some wizards from Gayola and Calais, who will then work in the new French provinces, and will require detailed vetting and selection after recruitment."

   "You want them to replace the wizards of Flanders and Holland?"

   "I can't give the dark wizards a chance to make a comeback." Louis said: "Flanders, Holland, whether they are inside or outside, I want them to be mine and mine alone."

   "Little Lucy is only twelve years old this year." The Duke of Orleans said, "Shouldn't you ask Marie to do this?"

"Little Lucy has a lot to do after that," Louis said. "It's an important job, but it's not without a chance to come back." In the Netherlands, in Flanders, no matter how serious a mistake happened , Louis has a way to cover up or suppress it, but in France, let alone others, even Louis may not be able to tolerate it.

   "Will he participate in the Triumph?"

   "Probably," said Louis. "By the way, there's something I think you probably already know. Philip, you're going to have a new nephew or niece."

   "I don't know if I should be happy about it," Philip said. "I don't."

   "I must say, Philip, I owe Madame Lavalier a little."

   "She doesn't believe you." Philip said unpleasantly, the king had in fact promised to place her clan in Wansen, but Madame Lavalier always felt that she had too few chips in her hand - he thought so.

"Think in her shoes," persuaded Louie, "Philip, they are werewolves, dark creatures, and if I, or my heirs, change their minds, they will be doomed, and , if it comes to taking advantage of it, it is me, not her, who is responsible, and I have never given her love, so how can I ask her to love me?"

   "She said so, and maybe thought so too."

  "Or else," Louis said, "not everyone can accept a naked deal, and with a high-sounding name, she doesn't have to be so miserable."

Philip shook his head with pity in his eyes, not to his brother, of course, he was annoyed at Madame Lavalier's insufficiency, but now he was going to pity her again, the king didn't seem to think she had any real love for him , I just don't want to believe the promise he made before, but a child who is connected by blood has always been able to change a lot of things.

But Philip knew that this maid, who had been hiding behind Princess Henrietta, was indeed holding a sincere heart—Princess Henrietta is now his wife, but she also almost became Louis's queen, so Louise It may have been hidden from anyone, but it was absolutely impossible to hide from Henrietta's eyes - women are always very sensitive to enemies in love.

  ————

Madame Lavalier, who was talked about by the two most distinguished brothers in France, is leaning against the window at the moment - this is Amiens, a large city on the banks of the Somme, where the king and his party stayed in the castle, this castle Built in the thirteenth century, it is towering and tall, with green grass in the courtyard. Knowing that Madame Lavalier was with the king, the dignitaries here not only presented many precious gifts, but also the favorite of Amiens. The puppet theater troupe wants to win the smile of this distinguished lady, but how can the current Madame Lavalier have the heart to watch the puppet show?

   Looking at the window that was only ten feet above the ground, Madame Lavalier even jumped out of the window and escaped into the darkness...

   "I don't think that's a good idea."

Madame Lavalier was startled and turned her head sharply. It was Varro Vesalius, "I advise you not to do this," Vesalius said, "Of course we were sent by the king, but you If you go your own way," he pointed out the window, "guess, if you do come out of here, will the king regret it and want to restore your trust, or will he break the contract with the Serbian werewolves?"

   "He won't," said Madame Lavalier weakly. "He loves children so much."

"As long as you get out of here, whether you give birth to a human or a werewolf, he will not recognize him. An illegitimate son who is not recognized by the king, madam, his fate will not be any better than that of your clan." He paused: "Madame, you are lucky, you are someone who has never suffered." He raised a hand, interrupting Madame Lavalier's rebuttal: "When you were with your father, Your father has a status in human beings - he is an officer, after you become Princess Henrietta's maid, you can still live without food, not to mention, the king gave you a promise to make you his lover, the first A royal lady, you may have suffered some torture, but you have not lived a real hard life like those inferior people."

   "But I have," Vesalius continued. "I have, ma'am, I used to be as naive as you, thinking that with my own talents, I could take on my own life, even my wife and daughter. You may not know that when I first met the king, I didn't even think of this mortal man. In my eyes, although I was so embarrassed at that time that I had to borrow money from my student, Miss Mancini. No, it should not be called borrowing, it should be called begging, but I didn't realize it at that time, but hunger, Cold and sickness are not the most terrifying thing, do you know what is the most terrifying thing as a powerless person? That is that you can never control your own destiny, when you endure, when you are silent, when you repeat again and again When you hold your anger in your chest, you think you can live in peace—even in extreme bitterness, but as soon as those people, those in power, change their minds, you lose everything you take for granted ."

   "Are you talking about yourself?"

"I'm talking about the lesson I've learned, there's nothing that people have to obey, laws, or morals, ma'am, when the bad luck comes, you'll find you're so weak and incompetent - the king has been very kind to you, but That doesn't mean he can't be cruel to you, you don't want to lose the child - if he is unfortunate to be a werewolf, but have you thought about it? You know that once you lose the king's protection, the werewolf is the world, the servant of the devil, the priest of the inquisition , human soldiers, and even a stupid serf will pick up a **** to drive him away, and in the inner world, think of your father."

   "So are you trying to persuade me to watch him die?"

   "If he is indeed a werewolf, I am indeed persuading you to let him die."

   "You are also a father!"

   "Because I am a father." Vesalius said unwaveringly: "I used to hate my wife, my daughter. I gave up everything for them, but in exchange for their ruthless betrayal, but then..."

   "Later?"

"Later I understood, madam, even if I dig out my heart, a promise without the support of strength will only be disappointing. Wizards, mortals, werewolves... all are like this. I let them suffer hopelessly, and I can't refuse. The pain they gave me."

   "But it's not your fault."

"It was my fault," Vesalius said. "I could have avoided, at least, the suffering they suffered later. When the Mancini family decided to end my engagement with my wife, I should have realized that even if I gave A dose of poison for them is better than taking them out of the inner world and wandering hard and blindly in a completely unfamiliar and dangerous outer world - of course." He smiled: "This is also a selfish approach, the fact On, or because I don't want to lose them, the Mancini family's behavior is humiliating and lashing to me, but for them... it shouldn't be too bad, just another engagement."

   "Haven't you thought about taking them back?"

"My other identity is unspeakable," Vesalius said. "The daughter of the imperial physician and the daughter of the duke are two completely different concepts in the court. I hope to get my daughter back, but I hope she can be happy."

"Look," he continued, "you can take your child, but think about it, in ten years, or even a few years later, even if he can save his life because of your actions, he will definitely hate it. Yours, when he has no food, no clothes, trudges in the jungle, sleeps rough in the wilderness, eats worms and mice to stay alive, has no surname or identity, his half-brother can wear a fur coat Clothes, calling friends, countless squires behind him, hunting dogs, riding Arabian horses—when he raises his musket, it may be your child who will never know he has a werewolf brother. "

   Having said this, Vesalius sighed, "If you think that our majesty can't do it, you can continue to do it according to your wishes."

   (end of this chapter)