I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 501 French and Spanish (3)

   Things like this happen in every monastery and church in Catalonia.

Spanish priests and priests were expelled, all their money and land were confiscated, their places were replaced by French priests, and lower religious personnel such as Catalan aides were allowed to stay - through their mouths , The 11th tax is no longer compulsory and advertised in these four months, and the people are all praised - not that they are not religious, but that Catalonia needs a chance to breathe now.

  The letters of these Spanish priests and priests fell like snow on the desk of the Archbishop of Toledo.

This is what he and Rome are most worried about - when Louis XIV of France conquered Flanders, France and Spain are both Catholic countries, the Roman Church did not intervene, and even deliberately attacked Kazakhstan because of accepting bribes from Louis XIV. Busburg's demands were ignored; Louis XIV later seized and divided the Netherlands, and the Roman Church was equally happy with it, because their bishopric could also benefit from it, and because the Dutch were Protestants, France was mainly Catholic, and the Roman church was still dreaming. If the Netherlands became a Catholic parish, perhaps Louis XIV would be kind enough to raise his hand so that they could also profit from it.

   As a result, everyone saw it.

  François I snatched from Pope Leo X the right to appoint and remove the priesthood. Louis XIV was not stupid enough to send it back to the church, even in Flanders, the Netherlands, and Spain. When Flanders and the Netherlands were annexed, the Roman Church did not care much, because Flanders was also a part of Protestant parishes, and the Netherlands was a place where Protestants concentrated, but the changes in Catalonia meant that The Archbishop of Toledo and some keen red princes estimated that even if King Louis XIV of France would not unite the two countries, he would certainly implement his policies in France to Spain.

After the loss of France and England, Spain is the only country that can support the behemoth of the Roman Church, just like the priest whose surname is Alva, who deceives the people with the money, of course he will There is no next part, but more of it is handed over to the prince in red in Rome to ensure that this position will not be left behind. There are thousands of people like this in Spain. Under such circumstances, even Innocent XI would not dare to say that he would continue to support Louis XIV in this regard - otherwise, the pope election would definitely be brought forward.

   Archbishop Toledo read the letter, but could only laugh it off. He has done everything he can now, so what else can he do? He even sent his own disciples to France.

   "Mr. Bishop," the church messenger asked anxiously, "Have you thought about what to do?"

   "How to do it?" The archbishop made a strange and twisted voice under the veil: "I am already shedding Spanish blood, we are fighting for God and the Church, we have sacrificed, what do you want us to do?"

The messenger was at a loss for words, and he really couldn't think of what to do with the Archbishop of Toledo. The Archbishop had tried his best to find all those who were willing to oppose and oppose King Louis XIV of France. They formed a coalition and were always ready to fight with the French. Fighting to the death, and even driving the pro-French colleagues to the southernmost tip of Spain, the Spaniards are already bleeding, "Are we just watching?"

   "Then ask the church to call the kings to help us and drive out Louis XIV," said the archbishop.

The messenger's face suddenly became embarrassed, not to mention that the current Roman church no longer has the glory of Canossa's humiliation, even Urban II, who launched the Crusades, would not be able to command a Catholic king to make peace. Another catholic king fighting, even if Louis XIV did almost the same as the pagans, but he was powerful and rich, there was not enough profit and opportunity, there was no reason to have to do like Leopold I, there was no king Will take the Pope's will to heart.

"If you can't do anything," the archbishop said lightly, "then always pray, you go back and tell those princes, let them pray sincerely before God and saints, maybe the angels hear your prayer, It will fall to the ground and bring the king of France back to heaven.”

This sentence is a bit mean, but the messenger also understands that the Church of Rome really can't afford anything but a tongue, and the princes in red are never willing to take out a copper from their pockets for this kind of thing. They will not use their personal connections and kindness to benefit Spain and the church. While they are worried that the French king will cut off Spain's constant risk to the church after conquering Spain, and... To be honest, they may really dream of having Angels, even devils, come down from the sky and take Louis XIV away.

The messenger of the church left angrily, and the servant boy beside the archbishop picked up the letters that had fallen on the ground, and couldn't help but scolded the French and the shallow Catalans: "These damned people, see Forgetting the **** of God and benefactors for a small profit!" he said angrily, "only a few months' worth of taxes—and, even if the French say that, isn't the 11th tax to pay them off? Sin, grateful for the mercy of the Church and God, did they give it voluntarily? Master," he asked with a hint of imperceptible fear: "Do those Catalans really dare to refuse to pay the tithe?"

The archbishop glanced at him, and could not help but miss Alberoni in his heart. He once deeply hated Alberoni and regretted that he should not be exposed to too much complicated knowledge and those lowly people-he thought it must be These two things caused his favorite disciple to think differently, so after sending Alberoni away, he deliberately chose the youngest son of a noble when he was choosing a servant.

   Now he regrets it again. He was dissatisfied with the child, and if it was Alberoni, he would have seen at once the true intentions of the king of France.

   Was Louis XIV the kind of man who would bribe the populace with such a lowly means? As a king, Louis XIV was not as merciful as people say. After his conquest of Flanders and Holland, he levied heavy taxes on the people of both places and confiscated the assets of opponents in order to repay the merchants. war arrears, and cashing out war bonds issued at home.

   So why didn't he do the same to the Catalans? Because the Catalans were arguably his first stop in his conquest of Spain, he made gestures to tempt those who were still swaying and hesitating, and at the same time, he was also using this method to Catalonia conducts top-to-bottom sorting and regulation - debtors can never speak loudly to their creditors, and the same is true for the country to the country. The laws and regulations enforced are dictated or violated.

   After all, for those who are hungry, a piece of bread that is close at hand is much more important than dignity, independence, and even faith.

  If Alberoni was here, he would have understood the king's intentions without explanation. But he's not here, there's an idiot here - not bad, the archbishop doesn't have to explain anything to him, and he doesn't have to discuss and analyze in depth, he nodded and patted the child's head, and the child was overjoyed.

  ————

   Ruhl's father agreed after all, letting Ruhl run for the French reserve army.

As we said before, Ruhl was a strong young man, and with Lupo's guarantee, he qualified for the reserve army with little effort, he registered with the officer in charge, received his uniform and cap, As well as some odds and ends of military supplies and returned home.

   "The musket, where is the musket?" His younger brother circled him eagerly, "Let me see your musket!"

   "Weapons are not allowed to take home." Ruhl said: "And we haven't become real soldiers yet."

   "How long are you going to train?" asked Ruhl's mother.

   "Maybe thirty or forty days." Ruhr said: "I can still go home a few times."

"Don't say more about this," Ruhl's father said cautiously. "Let me see your uniform, my dear," he sighed, touching the thick and stiff fabric, because it was a reserve army, so their uniforms Not blue, but a calm tan, but with blue trim on the cuffs and hem, the hat is cowhide, with a narrow brim, only one palm, and no feathers, but the boots are shiny black and Soft, "It's 20 livres all together." He said that this price is equivalent to the price of a galloping horse. Thinking about how many people here have become soldiers of the reserve army, the Sun King is as big as people say Be generous.

   Seeing these things, Ruhr's father finally felt relieved. Even for these armaments, the French would not easily use Ruhr's young Catalans as consumables.

"And this, father." Ruhl clapped his hands conjuringly, and there was a golden coin in his palm: "Look, everyone," he said happily, "this is the latest gold coin minted, ours The sergeant said it wasn't in the salaries—it was a gift from the king! His Majesty said..." He tried to imitate the French officer's tone: "Let's meet our king too!"

"Who's on it?" Ruhl's mother picked it up curiously and put it in her hands to watch it repeatedly. The gold coin was very beautifully minted, and there were gears on the edge. She didn't dare to bite it habitually: "It looks like a child. ."

"Carlos III." Ruhr's father said clearly: "His Royal Highness Charles, the second son of King Louis XIV of France." He took the gold coin from his wife's hand and weighed it, "Half a pistol So heavy, if every reserve soldier had one..."

   "Everyone has it, indeed," Ruhr said. Ruhr's father did not continue to speak. He looked at the gold coin repeatedly in the sun. Although it was not as heavy as Pistor, its purity might be higher than the latter in terms of color. The child on the gold coin might only have two Three years old or younger, the cheeks are bulging because of the profile, and the fluffy curly hair is very cute.

   "Don't spend it casually." Ruhl's father returned it to Ruhl.

   "But isn't the family short of money?" Ruhl asked suspiciously.

"It's true that no one has come to pay taxes this month," Ruhr's father said. "Even if we go to church to attend Mass, pray, and confess to the priest—he doesn't ask us for money." He looked at his eldest son and said A name is the man who bought Ruhr's father's workshop: "He hired me, and your brother to work in the workshop, with enough money," perhaps because he heard that Ruhr became a French soldier, So the businessman didn't want to make things too absolute. It's impossible to return the workshop directly to Ruhr's father, but it's not difficult to give them a job. Now this small town, no, the whole of Catalonia has hundreds of people. There are tens of thousands of French people here, who can sell everything: "And your mother and sister, they also found work to sew tents and military uniforms."

"This is really good." Ruhl said, he observed the faces of his father and mother, as well as his younger siblings, and it turned out to be more rosy and energetic than before. He was relieved and after having lunch with his relatives, he Out of the door, ready to go back to the training camp.

There were even more people on the streets than before, especially businessmen, not only from Catalonia, but also from the Netherlands, England and even Ottoman Turkey in terms of their clothes. After a few minutes, Ruhr suddenly realized - Louis XIV It was said that no taxes will be levied in Catalonia this year, which means that businessmen do not need to pay any taxes, which means that Catalonia is a huge tax-free zone in the past four months.

  The businessmen with a keen sense of smell and daring will certainly not pass up this rare opportunity.

   As long as it is profitable, businessmen in this era can do anything, and because of this, businessmen are looked down upon by most people. Some priests said that it is harder for a businessman to go to heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

But the most important chancellor of the exchequer was a merchant, Louis XIV, but he knew how to drive them. To Louis, merchants were like algae in a fish pond. Sunlight and nutrients in the water would quickly breed them to kill fish ponds. other creatures.

   But if this is just a pond of barren stagnant water, the algae can become nutrient-rich bait, attracting and feeding other creatures in the fish pond.

  As long as you grasp the discipline, merchants, ministers, and generals can also be the help of the king.

  Catalan has frequent wars, and the Spaniards have been fishing again and again. It can be said that the place is almost abandoned by the merchants. As soon as the French king's tax-free system came out, it suddenly seemed like it was blessed by saints. Whenever possible, businessmen would try their best to go to Catalonia to complete transactions.

They brought wood, ceramics, olive oil, dyes, cotton, silk, woolen, everything you can think of. They and their employees need food and drink, they need rest, they need porters and warehouses, they need… what are they? both.

   Even though Ruhr is only a small town, it was expanded into a big market by the merchants because it is not far from Barcelona. When he finished training and was about to start, he actually saw someone building a wharf here.

   (end of this chapter)