I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 340 Go to hell

   In front of Louis XIV was a linen robe so poor that secrets could be discerned through its holes, a belt of iron chains, and a crown of thorns.

Louis XIV completely regarded the subsequent little pilgrimage as a play with his son. At the time, he casually agreed, while telling little Louis not to eat meat all the time, while watching little Luciano not to eat too many sweets, he washed his face and hands in hot lemonade before going to another place. Meet the monks in a room.

   Then he saw the first gift he received since he came to Rome.

The Franciscan friars just smiled when they saw the handsome and easy-going king, and looked at them, from their hoods to their feet. There are bound to be more distinctions from a lord, and these traits are almost impossible to hide—how can a priest pampered in a Roman mansion, and a monk who works with his own hands in a remote monastery to get food? Same?

  These monks are real monks, and Louis XIV's eyes are not so sharp and terrible: "Who made you come here?"

   "God," said the leading monk.

"God speaks to only one thing," said Louie, "and that is the heart of every man, and in the darkness of the night, he goes to the heart of men, and speaks to every heart, good or absurd, its Has the master acted according to his will? Or has he left his teachings behind? Or is he reciting scriptures but acting like the devil? How does he speak to your heart? He tells you that I am pious , or hypocrisy?"

He lightly tapped the sackcloth: "Jesus Christ once said to the people, 'If you are innocent, you can throw a stone at this woman!' Now I will also ask you if you have the right to come Find me innocent, or guilty, and am I innocent if I put on sackcloth, a crown of thorns, and chains, and walk through the entire Holy Sepulchre as you ask? How can you be sure that it comes to my heart like God?"

He paused: "If a heinous criminal is allowed to do this, will he become a good person? If a heinous heretic does this, will his sins be atonement? What if the devil and his servants?"

   "So what?" a monk couldn't help but say, "You are different from their sins."

  Louis sighed: "The tone of your speech reminds me of the traders in the market. They have a scale. Where is your scale?"

   "Your remarks remind me of those radical Protestants," said the leading monk. "They also firmly believe that the Lord lives in their hearts, and they believe in no one but themselves."

   "You are wrong," said Louis softly, "I believe it, because for me, anything in the world can fall into my pocket if it has a price."

"Then, can God's call redeem the pure faith for you and the people of France?" The leader of the monks stopped the other monks' anger caused by such blasphemous words, lifted their hoods, and used a piercing voice The eyes of God looked at the king.

   "It depends on whether the real God or the devil is calling me."

   "I thought the one who called the devil was in front of us." The head monk said aggressively.

   "Some devils are visible, some come and go without a trace. Good pious people, sometimes blindness is a sin, like those who hold stones to kill the woman."

  Louis said: "Take this and see, brothers of the little birds (Francis once called them sisters), and see whether it is the holy dove or the vicious vulture that drives you."

The monk at the head bowed and took the document that Bontang handed over—it was nothing but a thin piece of paper, and then he showed a sad look: "I don't want to believe that there is such a thing, but you It's hard evidence." He said, "The problem is, you're guilty anyway."

"Man is born with sin," said Louie, "but even if the ground is cracked and **** is under my feet, I don't think I've done anything that needs to be done to atone for it," he said sternly. "When a sharp sword does not cut armor, but chops grass and trees, he is wrong; when a hound does not pursue a hungry beast, but bites a horse that has only gone astray He was also wrong when he was in a place; when the people of a place did not go to execute a robber who plundered many people, but to hang a thief who stole three copper coins, they could not be more wrong, I respect you I won't hold you at fault, but that doesn't mean I'm too weak and good at compromising."

   "You are as arrogant as King Solomon," said the leading monk: "Your Majesty, you are in Rome, not Paris, and you should remain humble at the feet of God."

   "I bow only to God," said Louis XIV sharply, "not like you."

   "We have long since abandoned worldly prosperity," said the leading monk, "I want nothing but to serve my Lord."

"It was Gregory VII who let a king stand barefoot, wearing sackcloth, and a bitter chain outside the castle to repent before." Louis laughed: "He is now a saint, if I do, the Romans will remember you. "I can only tell you, what Henry IV once did, I probably couldn't do it in the first half, but maybe in the second half. no problem."

  The friars turned pale, what did Henry IV do after such humiliation?

  He led the army, went south to Rome, drove Gregory VII out of the Vatican, and died in Salerno, southern Italy.

   "I don't even need to go back to France." Louis whispered: "My army is here, in Rome."

"...But it won't do you any harm." After a period of silence, another monk argued: "Saint-Louis has two Masses every day, and he has to recite the Holy Mary fifty times before going to bed, in order to participate in the morning prayers. , he got up in the middle of the night, he was a Franciscan, **** washed the feet of his disciples, he washed the poor and blind, you touched a leper, Your Majesty, asceticism is not It will bring you humiliation and only increase your virtue."

"You may be right," Louis' eyes shifted to him, and the friar lowered his head as if overwhelmed, for no other reason—the king's eyes were too bright, "but your words were heard by St. Francis. , will laugh, St. Francis used to be very absurd when he was young, but when he came to repentance, he did not say to his friends, you must do like me, otherwise it is wrong; when he is dressed in a Rough robes, walking out of the house with empty hands, he didn't say to his father that your actions were wrong, that you should give up your worldly life as I did, and go into the arms of the Lord; when he went into the crowd When he persuaded them to obey the will of the Lord, he did not beat them because they did not want to listen; when he lived alone on the rocky mountain like a wild beast, he did not regard those brothers who had not been ascetic as Sloths and idiots—I'll ask again, what makes you think you can control a person's behavior by your own will?"

He picked up the crown of thorns, "How easy, just take it, walk a short distance, and say words of repentance, and I can become a saint as you say. It's not difficult, It is not dangerous, and the benefits are huge. If I believe in the Lord as you said, I should do it, but I think that there is still a thorn in my heart that cannot be pulled out. Whenever I want to disobey me the soul, this thorn will pierce me."

  The monk seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by their leader.

"I can only say that God bless you, Your Majesty, and at the same time thank you for your kindness." The head monk said, his words were not aimless, ascetic would be delighted by kings like St. Kings like Li sneered, and they might even be driven out in a state of embarrassment, but Louis just raised his hand and let them go with their sackcloths, belts of chains, and crowns of thorns.

   "It might make sense to change someone else," complained Louis and Bontang, "but the people behind them only want to see two outcomes."

   "I'm listening. Your Majesty."

"The first result is that I have become a second Saint-Louis," said Louis. "You know, Bontang, people are kind to thieves, because they know that the other is a fallen devil, but to a saint, they But he will always hold a magnifying glass to look at it harshly, and once the church acts like this," he pouted: "I'm afraid I will be constrained everywhere in the future."

   "You will be blessed by the Pope and then sacrificed for his will." Bontang also saw it clearly: "It's like St. Louis."

   "Louis IX was sixty-six years old at the time of the Eighth Crusade." Louis said: "If it was just his personal will, he probably wouldn't have traveled all the way to Tunisia to fight."

   "The Judas are not the best at lending money," Bontang said. "The church pays back a hundredfold for every cent it gives."

  "There is a second possibility," said Louis, "that is to create a little accident, people are willing to hear how a saint is ascetic, but more willing to hear how a devil is punished at the Holy Sepulchre."

  Bontang's expression hardened: "I will order them to clear the parade route again."

   "Don't worry about that," Louis said nonchalantly. "They can only use wizards and monks. Barras is by my side now, and Elarius will be there tomorrow."

  ———

As Louis said, there were Barras and Elaly, and their pilgrimage was peaceful, and although Louis XIV didn't want to be a second Saint Louis, he did something that Saint Louis did, he promised To build a church and monastery in Rome in the name of St. Louis, and to enshrine in the church some of the relics seized in this battle, and on the pilgrimage he supplies a hundred poor people with bread and milk every day, and with them three people dining.

The Duke of Colonna was keenly aware that these three people could not be said to be the real poor. He told Louis, and Louis replied with a smile that there could be no real poor in Rome, because the charity of the pilgrims alone was not enough. A small number, certainly not the same as what Colonna saw in Naples, the real poor.

The Dauphin appeared with the Duke of Colonna at the Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. They stood side by side behind Louis XIV, watching their father and the king being blessed by the Pope, the new Pope Innocent The Eleventh also gave them blessings, which made some people look ugly, because little Louis is nothing, the Duke of Colonna is a well-known illegitimate child.

  Innocent XI's move may be to salvage some bad consequences...but these are far from enough for Louis XIV.

"Are you sure?" Innocent XI and Louis XIV met privately afterward. They were like two strange but friendly guests sitting face to face. The Pope didn't salute Louis, and Louis didn't kiss the Pope's ring. , "You should know Barras," said Innocent XI, "a stupid old dog!"

   "It's just for a few years. I have a person I like very much, but he lacks qualifications."

   "Erael?" King Innocent XI frowned.

   "Elarius."

   "He is a judge of the Inquisition." Innocent XI said: "The ordination of Ballas has been criticized by many people."

   "Then Erael was not the first," said Louis. "Anyway, he is going back to Paris in a few years. Are they worried that he will become pope in such a short period of time?"

   "Of course not." Innocent XI said: "Bishop?"

   "I hope to be the archbishop."

"Then in a few years he will be promoted to cardinal," Innocent XI said, "unless he has actually done something, and there is nothing to say." Power of appointment and dismissal.

   "This is impossible." Louis said: "But I can give up some of the benefits of dyes and woolen, only to your family."

   "Not enough."

   "Enough, just an archbishop's seat."

   "I am Benedetto Ortescalci, and Innocent XI."

  Louis leaned back in his chair: "I'm not sure, but I do have an idea."

"what idea?"

   "Crete."

Anyone who has ever been interested in the Crusades will probably know that Rhodes Island was held to the last moment by the Knights Hospitaller (later renamed the Knights of Rhode Island), but this island is not the last checkpoint in Christ's world, Christ's world lost It is only a few years before the last sea fortress from the Mediterranean to the Asian continent - this sea fortress is Crete.

Crete once belonged to a country, that is, the Aegean civilization or the Mycenaean civilization. It appeared even earlier than ancient Greece. After Greece, it was successively occupied by ancient Greeks, ancient Romans, Arabs, and Byzantines. In the twelfth century, the Venetians took advantage of the Crusades and the split of the Byzantine Empire. Special, until 1669.

Speaking of which, the Ottoman Turks were able to capture the island of Crete, but also thanks to the Koprulu family. The old Koprulu gave the Ottoman Empire a shot in the arm, which made this country, which was becoming more and more sluggish because of its size, rejuvenate. After birth, his son, Ahmed, who was to be executed by five horses because of this great defeat, was the planner and organizer of this battle, but it is a pity that the Ottoman Turks never used their past achievements to make up for it. sinful tradition.

In other words, Ahmed's life and death are all in the mind of Sultan Mohammed IV, but just like the old ministers and young monarchs at any time and anywhere, it is difficult for a young king to hold the courtiers who govern on his behalf. What kind of favor do you hold, let alone the queen mother who made Keplulu's son the future Grand Vizier.

When Ahmed returned, he would inevitably die, and the Ottoman Empire would be turbulent for a while. Innocent XI glanced at Louis XIV. He had also read all the documents related to the king, who had bet The disposition of an apprentice, like after he took down Flanders, faced with a chaotic new territory, and a coalition led by the Holy Roman Empire that could form a behemoth at any time, he actually did not put it at all. In his eyes, despite the fact that the army had already exceeded the normal employment time limit several times, it was almost a desperate attack on the Netherlands.

   Heck, he still succeeded.

This greatly exceeded the expectations of the Roman church, and it also made them passive. Innocent XI can only be glad that he did not follow the former pope to make mistakes at that time - as for face or something, for a politician, sometimes it is precious Like gold, sometimes as low as clay, times have changed, my lord, he now said in his heart, the era of being able to force kings to be courtiers is long gone, and after Henry IV sent his army back, Gregory VII did not. What a good ending.

However, "Do you also use this as a bargaining chip?" Innocent XI said: "Crete is Venetian, Venice is Italian, and the Duke of Colonna will not be satisfied with a Neapolitan king. "

   "It was only the first victory," said Louis XIV. "There are many more, sir."

First, King Innocent XI was a little surprised. "Those monks said that you were as arrogant as King Solomon. I think it's a little bit." Louis XIV meant that he led the coalition to acquire Kamnico before. A victory in a battle is not a victory.

   The addition is complete.

   (end of this chapter)