I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 338 The Battle of Kamnik (5)

   "I think this war can be over, what do you think, Bontang?" asked Louis.

   "I think so too," said Bontang.

People in this world always have the illusion that they can do what others can easily do. They don't know that Louis can intervene in the world as a mortal king. In addition to the necessary courage, even Mazarin The bishop also has to admit the good luck - he may die under the curse of the dark wizard, the Mancini family may reject his proposal, or a devout believer will think that he is blasphemous and assassinate him. It could happen, and Louis was ready to accept it, but luckily none of that happened.

   Now we have to see what happens to the kings who reach out to the inner world with their greed finally prevailing over faith and fear.

However, as far as the grand vizier, Ahmed, they are facing now, the situation may be very bad, because just after the ghouls failed to attack the city, the Ottomans not only did not continue to attack the city, but also sent messengers to deliberately Negotiate with coalition forces.

"In the end, the Grand Vizier is nothing but a slave of the Sultan," Theodoric said, "but the Grand Priest is second only to the Sultan in religious status, and their status is in a sense equal. The imam was not prepared for Ahmed to be assassinated by him, but the disciples of the great imam found out right away."

   "Did they report this to the Sultan?"

"Yes," said Theoderic, moving quickly, and when the ghouls were destroyed by Barras and his friars, he set off to Osman's camp to search for the devil's machete , but he was almost detected and attacked before he reached the tent of the Grand Vizier - it turns out that the disciples of the Grand Master had already swarmed and caught Ahmed when he was slack - they were in Ahmed Mead did this after summoning the demons, you can interpret that as they need to give evidence to the people, or you can interpret that they also want to see the ghouls take Kamnic for them.

But they certainly did not expect that as soon as the Grand Master died, Louis immediately ordered the army to withdraw from the city walls - he asked Theoderic what the Ottoman attitude was towards wizards and vampires - in fact, even without Prince Van Gogh, Louis' merchants were According to the books he collected in Istanbul, in Ottoman Turkey, even the most devout and steadfast believers would make deals with the devil. A thing to boast about, but their priests are much more rigid and strict, that is to say, if it was Ahmed who made a deal with Patriarch Hitai, then the Grand Master would not allow him to use this machete .

Louis' wizards can also be sure that although they killed a lot of Ottoman priests when they accompanied Ludwig I to the battle, there was absolutely no chance of the Grand Master among them. The Ottoman Grand Master protected the Grand Master with lightning. Vizier Ahmed, when they retreated, they could still see that the white-bearded old man was still quite energetic and in high spirits.

Then, it is also possible that Ahmed killed the Grand Imam during the conflict. Although he was a mortal, the Hitta clan originally came from Egypt, and their patriarch was even regarded by the Egyptians as the **** of death and darkness. , Although he was defeated in the battle with another blood race and had to leave Egypt, there is no doubt that he studied ancient Egyptian magic, and this magic knife may be far more than those powers that people think.

   In fact, Theoderic didn't smell the smell of the magic knife, maybe it had absorbed enough soul and blood for the real master, and it had returned to him.

In short, those Ottoman priests failed to find the magic knife, but they always had a way to find and find all kinds of clues. After all, in Istanbul, these priests were equivalent to the judges and judges of the Inquisition - "It should be the Grand Priest. What message did you give them," Theoderic said.

"The Grand Master must hope that this army can return to Istanbul," Louis speculated: "This expedition is doomed to fail, but looking at the behavior of the Grand Vizier Ahmed, it seems that he wants these twenty-five Thousands of people died for him - did the sultan of Ottoman Turkey still maintain the tradition of dismembering the body of a defeated army?"

"Ahmed can become a lunatic, but it is not easy for the sultans of Ottoman Turkey to gather these soldiers. After nearly 20 years of hard work, Koprulu has only such a few horses and horses that can be used." "They should have had the will of Muhammad IV to deprive Grand Vizier Ahmed of his power and identity," Aldric said.

Louis nodded and moved a piece on the chessboard. Theoderic looked down and couldn't help showing an unbelievable look: "How could you do it?" He asked, "Even little Louis would be better than him. You have skills."

   "Actually I'm not very good at using tricks," Louie said. "I just like to get everything as organized as possible."

   "Perhaps that's why your generals and ministers like you," Theoderic said. "Easier said than done. You're the least wealthy and least enjoyable person I've ever met."

   "I thought I was king of France already," said Louis, "and I have several royal ladies."

   "Yeah, who doesn't envy, even I know that the most beautiful lady in Paris right now is Madame Montespan of Versailles." Theoderic teased: "But you really don't plan to canonize your youngest son?"

"It's up to Mrs. Montespan to do what I want," said Louis, nodding to his queen: "My son will always be recognized and canonized, but he's still a baby, so we Don't be in a hurry."

   "Sometimes you're really ruthless." Theoderic moved the soldier - it was coming to the end: "But be careful, be looked down upon by any woman."

Louis raised his head and glanced at Prince Vanderbilt, whom he had seen in the esoteric scrolls of Theoderic dying suddenly in his twenties—when he was young and healthy, probably related to women, queens, or It was his lover, Louis didn't say a word, moved over a knight and ate the soldier who was just one step away from the bottom line - it could almost become anyone on the chessboard except the king, mostly queens - "So I will nip all her ambitions in the cradle, but I will also be very fair, as long as she can do things for me, I will not leave her hands empty."

   "But Madame Montespan must be jealous, for you are more lenient with the Duchess of Colonna and Madame Lavarière than with her."

"Mary and Louise are different from her." Louis said, "you have lived a lot longer than me, and you must have seen many more people than me, so you must know that there are people who are born bad, they It seems that you are born to do evil."

   "It's a little too much to say that about a woman who gave birth to your baby," Theodoric said.

"Marie Mancini was the first woman I fell in love with," Louis said: "We were both young at the time, her love was pure and selfish, and mine was almost lost in the crisis at the time. , I must admit that her love was a precious reassurance to me, but it eventually turned sour, that I lied to her and put her and my child in a difficult and dangerous situation So I'm leaning towards her because I know I can't give her what she wants."

"As for Madame Lavarière, she was the former maid of the Duchess of Orléans, she was not an impressive lady, I don't know how to describe it, but at the time I really hated those who were constantly being recommended by ministers. The queen and the queen dowager's noble daughter, I can say that I was willful once, impulsive once, when she was allowed to take my arm, I looked at those people and guessed in my heart, if they knew that I would rather have How ugly their expressions would be if a werewolf was a royal wife and didn't want their niece or niece."

   "But you also feel a sense of guilt towards Madame Lavariel."

"She is a person who is willing to suffer in silence and not talk to me. I may not love her, but I respect her. She is not greedy, so even if she made a mistake in the end, sir, I still gave her a child. , a fief where she can live in peace with her people."

"So," continued Louis, "these two ladies, one I have loved and one I have respected, have done for me like any worthy minister and general—and this Monterey Where's Mrs. Spahn?" He paused: "She's lucky, she has two fathers who are dear to my heart, and I'm just in need of a pair of hands that put red gloves on for me—since she's willing to kill her own for it. Husband, who framed the Duchess of Colonna and ruthlessly used his adoptive father and biological father, then I will fulfill her wish." Louis said calmly.

   "And what about her and your child?"

"I'm not going to let her baby stay with her," Louie said. "I'm looking for a suitable guardian for him, and I don't think Mrs. Montespan will be able to spend too much time with the baby growing up, she can get her Want to get something, but definitely not easy."

   "Then you think she'll bow down to it?"

   "Maybe I will struggle for a while," Louis said with a smile, "I'll need you to help me then."

   "I'm not your minister," said Theoderic, squeezing King Louis into the corner.

   "I don't think so. Although we are not related in any way, I feel that the king of the Franks would certainly like to see France become the most glorious, powerful and prosperous promised land in Europa."

   "Maybe it's not just Europa," Theoderic said. "Your words make my heart flutter, and I will look at you. Human life is short, but always so bright."

   "Now, please witness this tiny but bright flash," said Louie.

  ———

In later records, people agree that when Louis XIV, the Sun King, accepted the surrender of the Ottoman Turks as the commander-in-chief of the coalition, he held a kitten in his hand to show contempt for the Ottoman Turks, or perhaps to express contempt for the Ottoman Turks. It is implied that they are all servants of a group of devils - but the Turks believe that this is because the sun Louis XIV was grateful for their bravery and loyalty, so he took a cat to complete the whole ceremony - because in Turkey, the believers of the true God They do never abuse animals, they even love cats and dogs, thinking that only cowardly and timid people would harm innocent animals.

Anyway, no matter what they said, they would never guess that Louis just wanted Theoderic to participate in the surrender ceremony. After all, there was no information from Prince Theoderic, so he would not be so resolute to ask the army to retreat, leaving an empty place. The city walls, leaving only a few priests - the sudden death of the Grand Priest made Louis XIV vigilant, and then the senseless casualties of the Yeniceri Legion, and only a man who was about to make a desperate bet would so unhesitatingly put a big name he thought could be discarded. Feel free to drop.

The ghouls may win, maybe not, but whether they will or not, if they are greeted by a group of mortals at the city walls, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and even have no chance of survival. Of course, Louis XIV wanted to weaken Leopold. The power of I, but I haven't thought about being so despicable.

  ———

   The Ottoman Turkish messenger clutched the hanging basket and was pulled up to the city wall, the first thing he smelled was a strong sweet smell.

Stove fires flickered everywhere in every corner of the city, and the steaming white smoke was mixed with aromas—golden bread was constantly being taken out of the humble stove, and every soldier and citizen could reach for it if he wanted to, Eat as much as you like.

The smiling soldiers probably didn't know that these breads baked from fine wheat flour (the French wheat was always fine and clean because it was driven by a steam engine) were damp and had to be made immediately. Made for processing—these things that nearly turned the city upside down are now their gourmet food.

The Ottoman Turkish messengers guessed that they might be watched with hatred and contempt as they walked halfway through the city, but what they did not expect was that not many people really paid attention to them, because the battle was over, and some people also brought out wine Drink, and the prey they caught, and some even took out canned food—not peaches or citrus, of course, just some ordinary canned meat, but it was exciting enough for these Ottomans.

The supplies of the Ottomans were originally only provided to the three legions of the Grand Vizier. From Azap to slave soldiers and mercenaries, almost all of them lived by looting, but this time the despicable Christians moved away. Whole cities, villages and towns were harvested in advance, and they couldn't find anything to eat or drink. If Ahmed didn't allow them to enter and loot the cities that were supposed to belong to the Grand Vizier, they might have insisted on not at all. Here - but just like that, there are people who start eating horses, claiming that they were left behind when Christians fought against them - and the owners of the horses generally don't speak up, at least they're the only ones on the fire. horse.

   That's kind of mild, and today, few people care about what other people are eating.

   And they have no commander, dead grand master, or grand vizier Ahmed still lingering.

Ahmed's only value is to bear the consequences of this defeat. Others don't have much pressure on the peace talks. Even the mighty Suleiman I faced Vienna's double city walls in 1529. After returning without success, the battle between the Ottoman Turkey and the Europas was either on the island or in the Hungarian area, and repeated competition for a region was a common occurrence.

Dauphin Prince Louis stood beside his father as a squire, wide-eyed and looked at the Ottomans who came in with their heads held high, fierce emotions swelled in his chest, unlike Louis XIV, a heresy, the Dauphin Although he is not a fanatic, he is also looking forward to the glory that St. Louis brought to France. For Louis XIV, this is just a necessary training. For him, for his dauphin, for his army , not all wars will have a situation where people are not treated as people at all.

Louis does not know whether his future battlefield will appear on the Ottoman Turkey side, but if his eldest son, the Duke of Colonna, can unify Italy, then he will also face the Ottoman Turks - the Ottoman Sultan is eyeing Europe. They attacked Naples more than once over the centuries, and Renaissance writers have mentioned that even the citizens of Florence were plundered by the Ottomans and sold into slavery.

Now it seems that the Ottoman Turkey is still a giant python. Although it has swallowed the bitter fruit because of its too greedy soul and too inflated body, the real effect of this bitter fruit may have to wait for a long time. The doubtful slave system to replace feudalism, but so cleverly struck a balance, as if every Ottoman could accept this approach.

In this way, it is not the Holy Roman Empire that really inherited ancient Rome, but the Ottoman Turkey. It is the same pyramid that stands on the bones of countless slaves, and the priest who can change from a servant to a general at any time. Harsh divine law, not secular law, is just as precarious for anyone—from slaves to emperors.

This kind of thinking made Louis XIV accept the kneeling of the Ottoman Turks without causing too many mood swings. For France and him, the war is over, and France's expenditure in this war is no less than that of Flanders. In the first battle of Ernest, in contrast, his army suffered very little damage, and he successfully defended the majesty of Christ's world. He has already discussed with the cardinal chief, in order to prevent some people from making troubles under the pretext of faith, he will go Rome accepts the Pope's commendation.

   with the army.

So after the end of the peace talks, the French evacuated even faster than the Ottomans. They went south from Slovenia to reach Italy, and it only took less than two weeks to enter the city of Rome. It is said that Clement X When the last edict was issued, he was already dying, and now he is still miraculously not dead. Louis remembered the letter of the cardinal chief, and couldn't help but guess that the Roman Church, at least the Castel Sant'Angelo, had completely fallen into the hands of the cardinal chief?

  The tone in the letter of the venerable red prince did not seem to be asking Clement X to face Louis XIV.

   Tomorrow morning, I will add a thousand words to this chapter.

   (end of this chapter)