I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 385 The King's Parade (8)

The Duke of Saint-Simon imagined a lot - how Louis XIV would deal with his extortion - maybe the king would deal with him as he did with Fouquet, no, not very likely, since the Duke of St. Simeon had not yet entered the court of Louis XIV and had not received In any position, the king could not punish him for malfeasance or corruption; he also thought that the king would look for evidence of his collusion with Leopold I or any foreign power, so he was always careful, all The appointments were only in words and not in letters, and he never even spoke face-to-face with the messengers sent by those men; he also thought of the unjust injustice that the Duke of Luxembourg had suffered—that ridiculous perjury Crime and murder, although anyone with the slightest savvy knows that this is a conspiracy - how could a duke with lands and huge assets join forces with a priest, a liar, to defraud a mere few hundred livres? How many more lives will there be? But such ludicrous implication is not uncommon in political struggles, and the Duke of Luxembourg was lucky that Louis XIV needed generals, and those who wanted to drag him to **** were unsuccessful.

  Otherwise, even if the Duke of Luxembourg is finally found not guilty, the time spent in prison alone will be enough to destroy his body and reputation.

The Duke of Saint-Simon is also very careful about this, as shown in the fact that he hardly leaves his territory, let alone to Paris or Versailles. His territory is managed quite firmly by him, and he has many reliable cronies. He also kept some soldiers, and even if things got to the worst, he felt that he had a chance to escape to London as the Duke of Vendôme did.

   There is a wizard by his side. There were wizards around Louis XIV. This secret is no longer a secret. The worst guess of the Duke of St. Simon was that the king would let a wizard curse him, so he paid a lot of money to hire a wizard by his side. He is quite reliable. The Duke of St. Simon can have a son in his sixtieth year, and he is also inseparable from the magician's secret medicine.

   However, the Duke of St. Simon felt that things would not deteriorate to the point where he had to choose the latter two outcomes. It was not because he was too arrogant or too stupid, but there were always some people who couldn't get rid of the influence of old ideas.

The kingship of the kings of Europa was not very strong until the twelfth century. It is traced back to its origins. This is the result of the collapse of the ancient Roman Empire - because the Germans, Celts, and Slavs were the ones who divided up this huge empire. such a barbarian. Although their descendants claimed to be the light of human civilization two thousand years later, at that time, they were really just a group of savages who could not even establish a complete top-down ruling system. Their rule There are deep tribal traces left in it. Even the king must divide the land among the various princes, and then he owns a territory around the capital. He is said to be a king, but it is no different from a big prince. To back down or be respectful to lords who have soldiers and territories.

This situation continued until the kings began to cooperate with the church, and the king used the power of faith to continuously promote his orthodoxy and purity, and made himself one with God (when the king ascended the throne, he did declare that the king was one with the Holy Spirit) , in order to ask the princes to show their loyalty and devotion to them, and make themselves the only voice in the army, which can be seen in the nine crusades.

However, when the church gradually became a behemoth, the kings had one more enemy - the kings no longer aimed their swords at the infidels, because sending troops under the church's call would undoubtedly increase the bargaining chip for the church, so they would The soldiers are facing each other. The war between kings and kings has two fuses, territory and money, but no one can doubt that all wise kings will use such wars to **** blood from the princes— Because when the lords gain territory, it also means that they must fulfill the mission of the vassals, and following the king to fight is one of them that must not be shied away.

Then, after the snipe and clam fighting for nearly a thousand years, the merchants have also become a force in the entanglement. Of course, they are not in the identity of merchants, but wearing free cities, free ports or lower councils, three-level councils They sometimes prefer the lords, sometimes the kings, but in the final analysis, they are all for their own interests, which is very common in Italy and the former Netherlands.

So, with a traditional king, the Duke of Saint-Simon's plan might really succeed, but he should have thought that Louis XIV was never a man of the rules - the king might not be able to see them as criminals, imprisoned or Execution, but he could "invite" them to the palace for a year-long parade, no, he might even take them straight back to Paris, to Versailles - it's just another captivity for them But to those who don't know, they have gained supreme honor and become the king's favorite, even if they are one year, two years, three years...not connected with the territory, or the generals of the territory People will take it for granted that all affairs are left to the king's officials. Of course, they didn't see so many people crowding the town of Versailles, is it just to seek such an opportunity?

But his accomplice, the Duke of Saint-Simon, was saying that those who were arrested, or who were still wavering, must be gnashing their teeth in secret, and they must feel that the Duke betrayed them in order to gain the king's favor... and he What can be done? He can still shout at banquets and dances that he really intends to betray the king, and can't he collude with foreign forces? He couldn't even complain that he wasn't invited, but was kidnapped into the king's parade—who would believe it? To be one of these five thousand, a letter of recommendation from Madame Montespan or the Duke of Orleans has been bid up to a thousand livres.

The Duke of Saint-Simon thought bitterly that he would probably get three thousand or five thousand livres, that is to say, sit in a place where he could see the king during the meal, and maybe the king would give him a drink Wine, Mrs. Montespan will also give him a beautiful smile, the crown prince, or the grand princess will also condescend to say a few words to him.

   Anyway, there is no way for him to whiten himself.

  The fact is not far from what the Duke of Saint-Simon had expected. After the banquet, Louis XIV also rewarded him with a bag of gold Louis, so that he could have a good time in the gambling game.

In the days that followed, the Duke of St. Simon was on pins and needles under the strange eyes of people. He even thought about running away, but the servants and servants around him were more alert than the three-headed dog in front of the Hades, and they did not accept any bribes or threats. The skillful and calm attitude made the Duke of St. Simon wonder if Louis XIV had such a plan twenty years ago.

It is not known whether Louis XIV had such a plan twenty years ago, but the Duke of Saint-Simon and others could not find a way to escape until the king set off from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, but it was true that they were frustrated. After getting on the carriage, the king's guards were beside the carriage, "Where are we going?" The Duke of Saint Simon asked slowly, glancing at the well-dressed, robust and well-equipped cavalry.

"Calais and Dunkirk." The Duke of Vendôme and the Duke of Saint-Simon were riding in the same carriage. The former mortal enemy, later colleague, and now non-conspirator, stared at each other for a while before withdrawing. Looking at the sight, the Duke of St. Simon glanced at the attendants beside him, and Mr. Joseph next to the Duke of Vendôme. It seems that there is no possibility of wanting to take the opportunity to hold the Duke of Vendôme and ask the king to release him. Of course, the king How could he suddenly become stupid and give him this chance?

"I heard that in addition to what we saw, an army of 50,000 people followed the king." The Duke of St. Simon paused for a while, and said with a bit of unwillingness: "Is the king so afraid of his subjects? Ten thousand people can start a war."

"Although I don't know what your plans are," the Duke of Vendome slowly adjusted his shoulder straps - the bright red shoulder straps, which could almost stab the Duke of Saint-Simon in the eye: "But I can tell you that if you think you have Fifty thousand soldiers are running around with the king, that is a big mistake." He said with a smile: "They said that His Majesty was guarded by fifty thousand loyal soldiers, but they only meant the garrison where the king's car was."

   Duke St. Simon's face darkened all of a sudden: "I don't believe it."

"You are always like this, Claude, but things in the world are never set in stone. For twenty years, my good sir, the king has been expanding his standing army, and perhaps your spies will tell you that the king now There are 100,000 armies, but that is only the armies of Paris and Versailles, and Orleans, the most powerful, the most superficial, the most known." The Duke of Vendôme said: "You may not have noticed, King What the officials dispatched to do - in the twenty years of Louis XIV's personal rule, even when he was at war with the Netherlands, the poll tax was not added, he was not good for these poor people for no reason, he asked them Loyalty and obedience, as to those Versailles exiles—every young man is educated and trained, yes, even in your domain."

   Duke St. Simon moved his lips, of course he knew it, but... he, like all nobles, thought that the poor were ignorant, even if they received education and training? They are short-sighted and ungrateful, and they are doomed to be nothing but a herd of bulls and horses driven only by whips and food—no matter what the king does, as long as they push, incite, and bewitched, these sad things will still follow their baton.

Although... the Duke of St. Simon must also admit that his subjects are not as obedient as they used to be, but to say that those young people who have only learned a little number and vocabulary from the priests and have done some strange training can be Soldiers called kings... Then it's not impossible that Louis XIV boasted that he had fifty thousand soldiers escorting him, perhaps with a contemptuous smile, as he saw the Duke of Vendôme raising his eyebrows.

Next, the Duke of Vendôme did not speak any more. The carriage traveled on the flat road for about three quarters of an hour. When he was about to leave Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Duke of Saint-Simon suddenly opened the curtain because he heard someone singing outside. .

"God bless our king..." Hearing the initial tone and lyrics, the Duke of St. Simon immediately guessed that it was "God Bless the King" composed by Lully, the king's music director, because this song was used to flatter flattery The lyrics are simple and the tone is simple, so it spread from Paris to all parts of France at once, even the Duke of Saint-Simon, who didn't like Louis XIII or Louis XIV, had to "familiarize" with this song, because almost everyone Will hum a few words.

He looked out through the gap of the car curtain, and saw a group of people, some on horses, some on mules, and more people walking on foot, they followed the king's motorcade, walking in the fields on both sides of the road, everyone All elated, men, women and children in their best clothes, "Who are these people? Are they from Saint-Germain-en-Laye?"

   "It can be said yes or no." Joseph said: "They are farmers and artisans nearby."

The Duke of St. Simon didn't speak, he looked at the crowd carefully. Some people were slowly dropped because they couldn't walk, but more people came from all directions, and the number became more and more. In addition, a special sight also caught the attention of the Duke of St. Simon, that is, these people almost all have blue and red ribbons, which are tied around the necks of women, and tied around the shoulders of men or pinned to the chest.

  Blue belongs to the royal family and red belongs to Louis XIV.

Their singing became louder and louder: "God bless our king, wish him a long life... God bless the king, I wish him invincible in battle, God bless the king, I wish him eternal glory..." Their numbers quickly surpassed the king's protection Army, although they couldn't see Louis XIV, the Duke of Saint-Simon immediately turned around to see the Duke of Vendome's face, but it was a pity that they didn't panic.

It was still three hours away to the next city, until they saw the city gate again, and there was always a crowd following the king along the way. The king's guards did not drive them away, nor did they feel nervous, but looked at them with a smile. - They meet and disperse like a swarm of bees, and appear and disappear like a stream in the forest. The Duke of Saint-Simon at first scoffed at the so-called fifty thousand soldiers of the Duke of Vendôme, but as time passed, he His expression became more serious.

  The welcome to the king by the people of Saint-Germain-en-Laye might be interpreted as a harsh request from the mayor, or a low-level way of flattery, but what about these people? There were already tens of thousands of people who came and went, singing songs of praise to the king, and following him all the way. If no one came to express their merits to the king, does it mean that they really did it out of sincerity? As long as their support for the king is one-tenth of the truth, even if the king does not have a servant by his side, as long as he shouts, he can gather around 50,000, no, 100,000, even 200,000, 30 An army of ten thousand people is not impossible...

   "How is that possible..." The Duke of St. Simon murmured.

   (end of this chapter)