I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 392 The subtleties of Brittany (middle)

   Even a Frenchman could not have heard of King Arthur.

King Arthur is the legendary king of England, the leader of the Knights of the Round Table. Whether he exists, or whether there are so many legends, is unknown to mortals, but from the wizard, King Arthur does exist. The problem is that he eventually got involved. Because of the struggle between the church and the wizards, the church deliberately annihilated the king's deeds - just like those failed Roman emperors would have their heads cut off from the statues, they deliberately distorted the various exploits of King Arthur into false legends, so that later generations Mistakenly thought that the great king never really existed.

King Arthur existed around the sixth century. At that time, the monopoly of education was in the hands of the church and wizards. The wizards had to retreat to the other world when they failed in the battle. Only the priests had the right to speak. The priests destroyed the papers that recorded King Arthur and Merlin. Exhausted, smashed statues, executed insiders - later people wondered that the legend of King Arthur could not find out where it originally came from, which is precisely because of this.

In addition to wizards, the earliest record of King Arthur is a Welsh monk. In his "History of the Burlingtons", King Arthur led the Welsh people to fight against the Saxons, but the most specific and detailed is the AD In the twelfth century, the bards sang songs related to King Arthur when they traveled all over Europa. Louis suspected that this was a message sent by the wizard to the outside world after gradually gaining a foothold in the inner world. After all, there is King Arthur, and there is Merlin and him. of wizards.

Then one may ask how the legend of King Arthur can be related to Brittany in France - this is because in the twelfth century, Brittany was ruled by the Anjou dynasty (the Plantagenet dynasty), so It was true that the territory belonged to the British at that time.

In the southwest of Rennes, the capital of Brittany, there is an ancient forest called the Forest of Bousleyand. There is an ancient oak tree in this forest that is more than a thousand years old. It is said that the ancient oak tree is buried under the feet. The Holy Grail that King Arthur sent the Knights of the Round Table to seek out three times.

   "Is it the Holy Grail that contained the blood of Christ?" asked the Duke of Orleans.

"Yes, no." Although the world and magic are no secrets to the royal family, there is no doubt that the current Louis XIV must know more than the Duke of Orleans. He took a sip of sweet wine and continued. Said: "The concept of the Holy Grail is much earlier than Christ. After all, the origin of Judaism is likely to be derived from the only religion in Egypt, but you also know that Egyptian magic, wizards and the world were once very close to the people at that time...closer Every word and deed, every move, every meal and every meal of people are closely related to the gods. At that time, the pharaohs combined religious authority and royal authority, and claimed to be the son of the sun **** Ra, which is not groundless."

   "Are you saying that the ruler at that time might have been a wizard?"

"It's very possible." Louis said leisurely yearning: "In the very beginning, Beyonders were no different from gods to mortals. Maybe the powers of Beyonders were not as powerful as they portrayed, but for those times For the people of the world, it is enough - not only Egypt, but also ancient Rome and ancient Greece... Look at the legends left by those gods.

  What is the difference between gods and humans? Except for those who cannot be verified, they have the same desires and limitations as mortals, even if they are smarter, stronger, more agile, have a long lifespan, beautiful faces, and permanent youth... But such existences are similar to the wizards we see now. What's the difference? "

   "I remember you once said," said the Duke of Orleans, "The reason the Beyonders gradually decline is because the mortals also have wisdom."

The king nodded: "That's it, Philip, you see, why don't I want to be a wizard, how dare I try and conquer the inner world? If I only have a tongue in vain, even if it is silver (meaning coincidence) eloquent), it is impossible to convince even a wizard who is arrogant by nature and thinks he is above the mortals, but I have my subjects, my soldiers, and although I am not a dragon, I can still let the flames sweep and engulf them. body and soul." He casually fiddled with the berries on the plate, crushing them with a fork: "Unlike wizards who dwell on the past, mortals are always on the move—a process that begins early Well, before the church existed, even in Greece and Egypt, or even earlier in the Sumerian civilization.

Once the power of mortals finally crossed the barrier of talent, the first **** was slain, and the first Beyonder to be pushed off the throne by his ministers swallowed his last cold breath, the priests, shamans, whatever it was at that time - The poor creatures who are superior to all mortals by virtue of their blood and inheritance have been torn off their omnipotent veil - what they can do, mortals can do, and what they can't do, mortals may also be able to do arrive.

Losing the threat of distance and unknowing, mortals can naturally take their place. They have changed from enslaved to enslaved. Extraordinary people first changed from gods to people, and then from kings to ministers. In the prosperous mortal world, they can only retreat step by step. Until now, they have probably forgotten the glory that their ancestors once had. "

   "If as you say," asked the Duke of Orleans, "isn't there any visionaries among them who want to stop this progress?"

   "Yes," said Louis, "slavery."

The Duke of Orleans understood immediately that even if a child were to be elected, he knew that it was far better to rule a group of slaves than a group of free men. At that time, slaves were indeed similar to mindless beasts, which greatly reduced the threat posed by mortals to the rulers. , but this kind of behavior and system, the destruction of human and civilization is not generally huge.

  Even so, they could not change their destiny in the end.

"It is impossible for the weak to control the strong," said Louie. "It is an unshakable rule, stronger than any law or tradition - when mortals were a bunch of ignorant animals, sorcerers could of course reign over them, but with When mortals become wise, their strength changes from weak to strong, and the positions of the two will be reversed..." The king's eyes suddenly turned to a farther place: "And even if, as you said, someone saw the future, as a wise person , he may not be willing to stand still." Just like him, he also saw that he could stop - for the descendants of Bourbon, to be able to pass on the crown, orb and scepter forever may be their greatest Hope, but for Louis... Although he has the prestige and power that no one can resist like the sun today, he may be able to smother the little spark he saw in his hands, delaying the inevitable future for hundreds of years or longer.

   But like he said, would anyone want to rule a bunch of monkeys?

   He doesn't know if his indulgence and tolerance of culture and ideas will lead to another terrible change, but he said that for the inheritance of Bourbon, let people return to the dark age of chaos...

   He didn't want to.

   "Brother Wang?"

The Duke of Orleans' inquiry awakened a brooding Louis XIV, who realized that he was taking the subject in the wrong direction: "Let's continue our discussion," he said: "The Holy Grail that King Arthur sought is not as good as it is now. What the church said is the cup that holds the blood of Christ, this is just a title, it belongs to the wizards, it is the magic power of countless wizards, in order to perpetuate and study the mysteries of magic, they have invested their magic power in a magic vessel for a long time. The result. They store the magic in the vessel, and then draw and use it in war or other urgent situations."

   "Sounds..." said the Duke of Orleans hesitantly: "An ammunition depot?"

"It can be said that," Louis smiled: "It's an ammunition warehouse. It can be said that if the Knights of the Round Table really found the Holy Grail, the war between the church and the wizards may not be the result now. Merlin really existed. The witches and wizards at that time were countless times stronger than the wizards of today, and you also know that the battle between the church and the wizard was essentially a battle between two Beyonders. Of course, we all know that the Holy Grail could not be found, and Merlin died. , and then deified, as did King Arthur.

  The church could not tell the people that the great King Arthur not only had a wizard teacher and a prime minister, he also once searched for the devil's property for Merlin, so they declared that the knights of the round table of King Arthur were looking for the Holy Grail containing the blood of Christ. "

   "So, this Holy Grail is still in Bootleander Forest?"

Louis glanced at the excited Duke of Orleans: "Is that the case, brother, if it was born a hundred years earlier, it might be different, but..." He shook his head: "It's too late now, our Cannons can kill real dragons, and," he pushed the plate away, "cannons, cannonballs, and even gunners can be resupplied endlessly, can dragons?"

"The number of wizards is the biggest problem in itself," Louis continued. "The wizards who made the retreat world first are wise and stupid, you know what I mean, Philip," the Duke of Orleans nodded, the king It means—they are smart enough to choose to avoid entering the inner world when they are weak, and the stupid thing is to just get by like this, they never seem to consider taking this great opportunity to become stronger, if they can become stronger To overcome the disadvantage of numbers, they may be able to rule mortals again.

   Don't say they can't do it, Louis can continue to expand the sphere of influence in the people's livelihood and military industry in a similar way to encourage seedlings, the magic of the wizard is indispensable.

   "Of course you don't need to care about the Holy Grail," the Duke of Orleans thought for a while and asked, "But the wizards must have different ideas."

"That's where we have to be careful," Louie said. "The world is usually an unnoticed place, which is to say, it's barren, or it's desolate, or it's hard to come by, but the location is often critical. , the wizards of the inner world are also quite valuable to a certain extent - I hope they can be used by me, brother, not only Gayola - so, Ren is very important, after all, for the wizards to come Say, it's a holy place."

He stared at the traces of black and red berries on the white porcelain plate: "Apart from the Holy Grail, Merlin met Vivienne, the fairy in the lake. Merlin was later imprisoned in a boulder by Vivienne. The wizards have always suspected The boulder that imprisoned Merlin is also in the Forest of Booth Leand. There is also Mont Saint Michel," Louis said slowly: "It is said that the last place where King Arthur slept, Avalon, guarded by the fairies in the lake, is in Saint Michel. Mount Michel. When Bedivere threw King Arthur's holy sword into the lake, it was taken back by the fairies in the lake - you know what King Arthur's holy sword means."

   "The wizards of England..."

"England, and the whole of Europa - France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania-Poland, Prussia, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Russia...even Ottoman Turkey...all the wizards, although they should have their roots in Egypt, but no wizard would deny that Merlin is their recognized **** of magic, and King Arthur is the most ideal king for wizards, since they are only the last step away from success..." Louis suddenly smiled: "Do you think that if King Arthur is reborn, he will how?"

   "Stop joking," the Duke of Orleans shouted subconsciously, "It's not funny at all!" After he said this, he realized that he was actually breaking out in a cold sweat.

   "You're right, it's not funny at all," said Louis, "so whether it's for the world, or for my France, I want to master Brittany thoroughly."

   "There used to be wizards in France." The Duke of Orleans asked suspiciously, "But are they the only ones we see?"

"Most of the wizards in France are from Brittany, and this is their ancestral land, but you also know that Brittany has only become France for more than a hundred years, or even less than two hundred years. This is why the French With the power of the world so diminished, they seem to be looking forward to an English king." Louis said: "Charles VII should have worked with one of them, Joan of Arc," he added: "But obviously , I don’t know what went wrong with that covenant, and the final result is not a happy one.” The founders of Joan of Arc finally dispersed and mingled with the Bohemians, and Louis finally brought them back into the wings of the royal family. Let's be honest, these witches probably don't have as much as one percent of what the wizards had in the first place. Louis thought it was strange that these people couldn't even compare with the wizards in Gayola.

The wizards of Gayola Island are only descendants of wizards from Latina who migrated to Gayola, not the whole of Italy... But as far as Louis can see, the inner world of France is as weak as the French navy of the same period. …

It now seems that some of the wizards in France still thought they were British wizards, and some were wizards who cooperated with Charles VII but failed - they refused to communicate with the royal family, and only a handful of them Wizards may still be willing to accept royal employment, and Bishop Richelieu and Bishop Mazarin should also do something about it - like Eraele. It's a pity that Louis XIII still had to die, and even Louis XIV himself almost became a victim of political strife and conspiracy.

   "Do you think we can find the Holy Grail?" asked the Duke of Orleans eagerly.

   In the face of his younger brother's temptation, Louis shrugged, "If you want, you can try it." Even the French, speaking of the Knights of the Round Table, are unavoidable - they are almost the most romantic fantasy of all men and women.

   So he doesn't hurt the scenery, for example: as long as Brittany is completely conquered, even if they don't have them, they can build a Holy Grail or something...

   (end of this chapter)