I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 304 A Burlesque (4)

In this gamble, besides Condé, the Duke of Luxembourg and the Duchess of Bouillon are the ones who have won big in this gamble. Whether it was the Inquisition or the High Court, the verdict came very quickly. Father Lesage and his accomplice Lavazin, and the reckless Bonnard, did not even return to Paris, and executed the sentence directly in Bordeaux. For this reason, Elatrix traveled to Bordeaux to pass by Barras, his former boss and mentor.

After passing through several cities in a row, Ballas realized that the treatment he received in Marseilles was not extreme, or even the standards of a papal envoy—with or without him, they were neat, wealthy, and orderly. Of course, it wasn't the flamboyant veil that he showed them—he was keenly aware that while France was still a Catholic country, the Pope's influence had been reduced to its lowest point.

For example, the mayor of Marseille will confess that he is not qualified to make the whole city work for him; for example, the Baron of Privat can not hesitate to pass a difficult case to him, a papal envoy; , the Huguenots who had traveled with him halfway through France, he questioned the officers and officers who were escorting them, half puzzled, half questioning—he meant, if these were unwilling to convert, To die, even the infidels who want to escape, so why don't they just kill these hateful prisoners?

The answers varied, some said they were to obey the king, some said that these Huguenots would work for France in Orleans, others said their faith was protected by the Edict of Nantes , and Louis XIV's latest restricted movement order, those who violate it will not die.

These three answers seem to be similar, but they are different. The first is the people who are most often seen by Balas. They are ignorant and blindly follow, but they are not blindly following the church but the king; the second is because of profit; The third type is the kind of people the church hates the most—they think and are sensible enough to keep themselves from unnecessarily frenzy.

But no matter what kind, if any prince in red in Rome sees it, it is more abhorrent than a heresy. There is no one who keeps saying that he is the most devout believer of God and the most loyal soldier of the church, but he always thinks about it. Replacing the church with something more sinful - especially when Baras saw...even the poorest peasants could live like a master, he had a strong heart of jealousy.

This kind of thinking is not surprising, because when a person sacrifices a lot of precious things just to be able to jump to another high branch, many years later, when he looks back, he finds that the branch he abandoned has become stronger and stronger. When they are plump, vicious juices will breed. After all, no one wants all their efforts to be useless. On the contrary, it is human nature, and it is understandable.

It's just that reality doesn't change because of Barras's curse. He came all the way and saw what people can see in a thriving new world, as if he left not twenty years, but Two hundred years ago, even approaching Paris, he could not recognize the city where he had spent years in vain—it was like a crown around green velvet, the white marble doors that rose from every avenue. The plaque, each avenue runs through the city of Paris, of course, people are most keen to go through the Queen's Gate, because it connects the Queen's Boulevard, which connects the Louvre and the Bastille Square.

When Barras' carriage was moving forward, Barras seemed to feel that he had returned to Rome, because Rome had built three to four-story buildings on the side of the street a long time ago. They were uniform in form, similar in style and flat. There are many people on the road, glass windows - please note that this is not a market yet, but there are already many restaurants, ready-to-wear shops, jewelry and antique shops, wig and barber shops, etc. There are many messengers who come to greet him. Proud to say that, after the king had rebuilt Paris, he thought it unreasonable to open markets in only a few places, and that when the number of visitors to Paris was increasing, the concentration of shops would not only add vain to a certain market. The pressure of the district will also cause many negative accidents and accidents, so he issued a special decree. In Paris, Versailles and several nearby cities, people can choose their favorite places without being restricted by neighborhoods and industries. Doing business.

But such a demand can only mean one thing, that is, the purchasing power of the French is growing rapidly, otherwise, even in Paris, there would not be such a situation where there are shops everywhere - in the past Why does Paris have a fixed market? It is because such a market or two can meet the needs of the entire Parisian people. Now, several times, even dozens of similar markets have appeared in front of Barras like mushrooms after the rain, and each There were customers coming and going in the store, the restaurant was overcrowded, and even the street vendors were almost overwhelmed.

Even if Barras had no financial talent, he knew that France was entering a virtuous circle - when Louis XIV brazenly launched the war against Flanders and the Netherlands, few people were optimistic about him, and the war was the most expensive. Yes, it is believed that even if the young king can win several victories and occupy several cities, he will end up going bankrupt because of military spending like a bottomless abyss. This situation is not uncommon in history, there are many Kings, it will take generations to pay off their debt to the bankers with mines and taxes.

And Barras also heard that Louis XIV mortgaged Fontainebleau to support the war against the Netherlands, and only mortgaged the Louvre - at that time, Barras and the Roman priests had the same idea, they just had to keep quiet Waiting quietly for Louis XIV to hang himself, who knew that Louis XIV would shoulder such a shackle and go all the way, with a kind of incomparable luck and courage, he took off Flanders one after another. And the two dazzling gems of Holland.

Thinking that even Leopold I was waiting for France to collapse on its own - Ballas smiled bitterly, if Leopold I knew that he was in such an embarrassing situation, even regardless of the Grand Duke of Transylvania With the threat of Ottoman Turkey, he must also take the lead and strangle the Sun King in the swaddling clothes of the strong.

But in this world, who can predict, even he can't, Barras came to Paris, because the king has returned to Versailles, he decided to stay here for a few days before going to ask to see His Majesty the king, he Don't know if it's because he's hesitating, like a sinner who doesn't want to face a victim, or a sad loser forced to bow to someone he once despised...

He went to the Church of St. Justin, which is the seat of the Paris Inquisition. Ballas was its owner when he left, and was a guest when he came back. He was surprised to find that the priests and monks came and went here. There were no more faces he was familiar with. Presumably Elarius "cleaned" the place well after he left - he walked into the church with mixed feelings, and then came out with no interest.

People noticed a black priest walking down the street with a fuchsia sash (specific to the bishop), and they couldn't help but cast curious glances, but they almost had their own things to do, and they just glanced a few more times. Well, but Barras sees more than anyone else, and he finds that there are more women walking the streets of Paris than anywhere else, and they are not prostitutes as one might think—prostitutes do not have as much as they do. With firm footsteps and sharp eyes, Ballas also saw a few witches—really witches! They weren't grotesquely dressed, they weren't crazy, disheveled, they just wore a maid's apron over their pretty skirts.

   But what kind of person would have a few witches as servants?

Barras endured for a long time before he asked a priest who passed by. The priest first glanced at his bishop's uniform, saluted, and then said: "Sir," he said respectfully, "the ladies you saw , are nurses at the King's Hospital."

   "The King's Hospital?" Barras asked, "The King's Hospital?"

This question made the priest look embarrassed. Of course, theoretically, his soul belongs to the church but his body belongs to the king, but for a bishop... who should be a non-French bishop, this This behavior is akin to arrogance.

The concept of    hospital appeared very early. As early as in ancient Rome, people knew that they should go to the temple to pray for pharmacies and herbal medicines, but at that time, the temples mostly only served elders and soldiers. But since the rise of Christianity, believers have often brought patients who share their beliefs home for treatment—most of whom have been hunted down and tortured because of their beliefs. At that time, the homes of these believers were called "hospitals".

After Christianity was recognized as legal by Emperor Constantine in 313, such asylums became more numerous, and they took on many responsibilities, caring for and treating the sick, as well as housing the homeless poor, or They are pilgrims, and slowly their name changed from asylums to almshouses, and gradually changed to shelter the poor rather than mere treatment.

It wasn't until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the term "hospital" began to appear in these places, but they were still called "Houses of God" in England and "Houses of the Holy Spirit" in Germany, But in France, how did they become the "king's house"?

  Barras is the chief judge of the Inquisition. He has been in law enforcement for 30 years. Guess how many people he has seen and tried because of the fear of sickness and death who performed witchcraft or black mass? He knows all too well how fragile and vulnerable people can be and how easily they can be controlled by others when they are weak and miserable - when those people are healed in the "king's hospital", they will thank God for giving them a good Pope , or thank God for giving them a good king?

  Louis XIV wanted to completely eliminate the influence of the Church in France.

   He can now understand Clement X. He is in his 80s. Do you still have to watch the Roman Church completely lose its glory in France, and watch France have an extra "chief king"?

  ———

A carriage passed in front of Barras. Barras' bishop's uniform and his eccentric expression of gnashing his teeth caused the people in the carriage to look back frequently. Until the carriage turned the corner, the man turned around and rubbed the handle of the cane. He said thoughtfully, "That Mr. Bishop looks a little strange."

"Probably from the provinces," replied the Brandenburg-Prussian envoy opposite him, though he did not care who his little master saw: "Your Highness," he said, "I seem to have said that at Versailles, , only Louis XIV can hold a staff."

"I'll remember to leave it in the carriage." Frederick Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, the eldest son of the Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia, reluctantly put down his cane with a huge sapphire. Since the fame of the Sun King spread from Paris to the whole of Europa, his tastes and habits have been imitated rapidly - just like when Spain was a mighty sea giant, the courts everywhere were dark, and now France is as The flowers are blooming on the brocade, so people can't wait to dress up and enjoy.

   For a young man like Frederick, he would of course prefer the new styles of Paris and Versailles. Who doesn’t like brilliant colors, silky fabrics and sparkling gems? This cane was even made by the royal craftsman who spent a lot of money and bought the Sun King to imitate the one that Louis XIV often held in his hand.

   Even without this rule, he couldn't have taken it to Versailles.

   "Although I know it shouldn't be," Frederick asked, "but you have seen the big princess, the appearance and temperament of the big princess...how about it?"

  The ambassador can understand Frederick's mood. In any case, this His Royal Highness was at the youngest and most affectionate time, and he would definitely be curious about his future wife—if all goes well.

"She is a very respectable lady," said the envoy cautiously. "As for appearance, Your Highness, you should be able to see her soon, but as far as I know, in the Bourbon family, there are An admirable face."

"But her mother was a Tudor and her grandmother was a Habsburg," Frederick gestured with a big chin: "I'm so worried...you know, even a Habsburg Princesses, people say they've been kissed by angels on their faces - I think that angel must have tried too hard...to make their faces hollow enough to cook in it."

   "This is really a bit mean." The envoy had to say.

   (end of this chapter)