I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 382 The King's Parade (5)

   "I'm still the same old saying," said the Duke of St. Simon, "I don't want to do anything."

   "That's the problem," said the Duke of Vendôme: "You stole the king's authority and didn't give it back."

   "I built it with my hands and feet," said the Duke of St. Simon, displeased. "Even the king has no right to take it away."

"I hope you would have dared to say that to Louis XIII fifty years ago." The Duke of Vendôme paused his cane: "It was indeed a good opportunity at that time, when the king's enemies set off riots and conspiracies against him at the same time, and The personal feud between you and the Count of Xavier has created a power vacuum for a while," said the Duke; "but without Louis XIII, there would be no Duke of Saint-Simon, you have betrayed your king once, and now you will betray The second time?"

The Duke of Vendôme said this because Louis XIII boldly promoted the then unknown Duke of Saint-Simon in order to compete with the secret agents of Cardinal Richelieu, but at that time he was just an ordinary servant. Mr. Claude, obviously, he believes that his talent and hard work are the reasons why this heavy net can finally be formed. He may have been grateful to Louis XIII in the beginning, but soon, his ambition **** This gratitude, the Count of Xavier is also aware of this, and can sow discord between this pair of monarchs and ministers - if Cardinal Richelieu hadn't died suddenly at that time, Louis XIII was eager to curb his power and wealth, They may still have a chance to redeem each other, but unfortunately, neither Louis XIII nor the Duke of Saint Simon refused to bow to each other.

   From the standpoint of Louis XIII, there is the Duke of Saint-Simon and the Duke of Xavier. He does not think that his spies need an indispensable leader, but the Count of Xavier really disappointed him. And the Duke of Saint-Simon at that time was probably just waiting for Louis XIII to realize this mistake. The Duke of Saint-Simon is now very tough, but let the Duke of Vendôme see, maybe he has always been immersed in a subtle regret, It's very likely that he didn't expect that things would eventually get out of hand.

   "You say my king, monsieur, that I have not been loyal to Louis XIV," said the Duke of Saint-Simon, arrogantly.

   "But you are standing in his domain," said the Duke of Vendôme. "Your title is from his father, and he has inherited his father's crown, and you should bow down to him."

"You mean the duties of the vassal, of course, I will obey his will and provide him with food, musicians, women and soldiers, or horses, armor, but other than that, he can't point fingers at me, and don't think Let me leave my fief," said the Duke of Saint-Simon, with a contemptuous smile: "I am old, Duke of Vendôme, I have no interest in powder, dancing, or gambling, and I will not go to Paris, Not going to Versailles."

   The Duke of Vendôme glanced at him. He remembered his grandson's letter to him saying that the king had inadvertently said something to them, and he thought it was very reasonable - that is, never think of others as stupid, although some people are really stupid, but in the crowd There will always be smart people, and people who can understand smart people—Louis XIV painstakingly built Versailles like a heaven on earth, and turned Paris into a palace of finance and art, in large part to attract the whole world. The contacts, money and resources of France and even Europa are gathered in these two sisterly central cities.

When reading history books, some people may wonder how those nobles would give up their unequivocal noble status in their own territory and go to the Louvre or Versailles to be a small servant - in this case, we can roughly With reference to the almost destructive conflict between megacities and small and medium-sized cities hundreds of years later - according to Maslow's theory, people's needs are divided into five categories, physiological needs - safety needs - social needs - respect needs - self needs. In small and medium-sized cities, those who can meet the needs of the first and second classes can be said to be in the minority. To put it more bluntly, they belong to the upper class, just like those princes and nobles who stick to their territories, but they must satisfy them. The third-class needs of the above, a territory that is almost impossible to change has become a shackle to them.

In this era, even an earl's domain was limited to two or three apons (French area unit, about 20-50 ares) of flat arable land and mountains or hills about three times the area of ​​arable land; It is the duke's territory, which is ten times that of the earl; the grand duchy, the grand duke's territory is ten times that of the duke, of course, sometimes these territories will shrink or "error", that is to say, some people's territory is just An empty header file.

Except for a few grand dukes and dukes, it is conceivable how difficult it would be for an earl, a marquis or a baron who can only stay on the territory, and how hard it would be for a viscount. They can certainly kill the people on the territory, but except for some eccentric temperaments Few people, other than the guy, can get a steady stream of fun from it - chasing enjoyment, or going further, to satisfy their own ambitions, that is, the pursuit of the third to fifth class, in those wild and boring places. Possibly - but Versailles or Paris can satisfy them.

Like the Duke of Lorraine, they could sell their lands outright and indulge in endless comforts, extravagances, and pleasures; they could, like the Duke of Mormat, bow their knees to a young king for their love; they could also Like the Viscount Turenne or the Grand Condé, who swore loyalty because of the power the king had bestowed upon them... But there was also a group of people, a group of wise men of whom we mentioned above, who sooner or later understood, Louis X. Four took over the will that has been passed down from Louis VI. Yes, since Louis VI, every French king has been diligently seeking a way to gather royal power. Almost all the previous kings adopted the "common control". The method of "foreign enemies", using foreign wars to strengthen the kingship and weaken the princes, they did a good job, at least after the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War and the Thirty Years' War - after this series of wars big and small, the French nobility did indeed Their vitality was greatly damaged. After all, as vassals, they did not refuse the king's right to ask for soldiers and armaments, otherwise the king would be able to take back their territory.

At the time of Louis XIII, Louis XIII was still fighting outside. At Louis XIV, although the young king made no excessive demands, his victory created two rather unfavorable results for the nobles. It was the king's prestige that reached an insurmountable and insurmountable height among the people, and the second was that the king built a standing army that could easily defeat any prince or even an alliance. Just look at how difficult it was for Charles II to set up a standing army in London. When the French nobles at that time knew that the king even mortgaged the Palace of Fontainebleau for his army, they had to say that most of them were With the attitude of watching a good show.

  Why did Bishop Mazarin resolutely refuse to allow war on the lowlands? It is precisely because this area is too vast and directly affects several countries. If France dares to go to war with Flanders or the Netherlands, it will be like stepping into a big quagmire. The good - he probably didn't expect his king's student to be so happy, he was like a daring gambler, using all the despicable means that he couldn't speak to others, with a hot and crazy heart, The Lowlands cast all their chips.

   He won the bet.

This was a huge victory, and it also blinded some people, or aroused their greed. Even those who do not like pleasure, they will also expect to grab a part of the king's victory. The key is, If they remained thousands of miles away from the king, who would speak of them to the king? So they gave up their lands, handed them over to the king's officials, and prostrated themselves under the king's boots.

   But there are always people who can see through these tricks, and some people always refuse to leave the territory, even if Louis XIV has reserved a room for them at Versailles, or even a suite.

   "Then you intend to stay on your fief for the rest of your life?" said the Duke of Vendôme.

   "Yes, go back and tell the king," said the Duke of St. Simon, "let's not disturb each other."

   "And what about your child?" said the Duke of Vendôme, "though he is still very young."

  The Duke of San Simeon is old, but his wife is still very young, and his son is surprisingly young—he was born in 75, a toddler.

   "He might complain," said the Duke of St. Simon, "but I don't think I might hear it."

   "Then I'll say it directly," said the Duke of Vendôme: "I'm afraid it's not that simple, sir, and why do you think the king suddenly wants to come on such a great parade?"

"He's showing strength, or charm or something," sighed the Duke of St. Simon. "My son is still very young, but other people's children are not young. They are all young people, with power, love, and money. Let them be shaken, once these young people follow the king to Paris, Versailles, what's the use of the old guys holding on? God knows if there will be another Duke of Lorraine."

   "So someone tried to obstruct this great parade, and you knew it, but you remained silent." said the Duke of Vendôme: "Are you prepared to watch the king die?"

   "No," Duke St. Simon said calmly: "You also said it was just obstruction."

"What did they tell you back then? Did they say they only wanted Louis XIII to suffer a little?" The Duke of Vendôme looked sarcastic: "How could you be so arrogant? You thought you could control it. Everything? How dazzling is the Sun King's light, how dark are his enemies, who envy him, hate him, and do everything they can to bring him down..."

"I don't understand." The Duke of Saint-Simon interrupted him suddenly: "Sir, you have suffered a lot from Louis XIII and Richelieu, but from what you are saying now, you really love your nephew. You know what he is doing, right? He deliberately deprives all the nobles of their territories and natural powers, and he asks them to submit to his feet as dogs and horses. He calls himself the king of the sun, perhaps because there is only one sun. - He doesn't even bother to set off the stars and clouds, everyone is his servants and slaves, so are you, and so are your descendants, you have lost your territory, your titles are like bubbles in the air, and those who are in vain What's the difference between a complacent hillbilly?"

"..." The Duke of Vendôme was silent for a while, and then he smiled: "I really want to agree with you on this, yes, you are right, our majesty will probably not allow France to have a third party. Two voices."

   "You don't intend to object?"

   "Why should I object," said the Duke of Vendôme: "Sir, I am the Duke of Vendôme and the son of Henry IV, but more importantly, I am also a Frenchman."

  The Duke of Saint Simon gave a sharp sneer when he heard the words: "I thought only children would credulously believe the ideas spread by the king's priests."

"Right thinking," said the Duke of Vendôme calmly, "perhaps you are looking forward to seeing a disintegrated France, so that you will not be held accountable for your guilt and dereliction of duty, and you can even steal by stealing But I have to advise you that the king did not let me come here because of fear or hesitation. There are three hidden powers in his hands. Does he know nothing about the conspiracy? He just doesn't want to see the traces left by his father eventually being wasted or misused, Duke St. Simon." He rose: "His Majesty wants me to tell you, if you He will be very happy to offer that little souvenir, but if not, he won't care too much, after all, he can get it himself, it's very simple," he said as if to himself, "You You know, besides the king's musketeers and squires, an army of fifty thousand men has followed him closely."

   "Even a king," said the Duke of St. Simon Iron, "doesn't have the right to deprive a noble of his assets, titles, or territories at will."

"Except for treason," said the Duke of Vendôme, "do you think they can't find any evidence?" He shook his head slightly: "I know you want to wait and see for a while, but I don't think our king will have any. Too much patience."

  ———

The Grand County Lord and his party had no idea what kind of person the old man they saw in the cafe was. They happily returned to the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Palace, bringing with them the beautiful or delicious specialties they thought were beautiful or delicious, ready to be dedicated to. The king and the county master think that your Majesty would like to see these, because the gorgeous drawing boards, silky fabrics and plump sausages are not necessities for survival, which means that the people here are rich, and they will start to pursue enjoyment.

While they were waiting in another room, they saw an old man with white hair and beard coming out of the king's reception room. As soon as Joseph saw him, he jumped up and ran over to wrap his arms around the other's neck. Intimately shouted: "Grandfather!"

   There is another chapter that seems to be tomorrow. Good night everyone.

   (end of this chapter)