I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 527 Palermo (middle)

"If this is the case, your mother's heart will be broken. She may have to lose a son now, but if you are too short-sighted and reckless, she will not only lose all her sons, but also her husband, maybe even more. relatives."

   a voice said suddenly.

It shocked everyone in the room, and even someone jumped up from a chair and drew a musket - Alberto's eldest brother, but it was none other than Barr who came out from behind the towering grand clock The Mo family's contact with France - the king's "birds" had more than one manager, but Italians must be most familiar with the Mrs. Milady, whose name has been circulated in various families for a long time. It is said that the current Italian The Duke of Colonna, the king, was raised by her on behalf of the Sun King and Marie Mancini. The Duke of Colonna has always respected her very much. In the Tuscan court, her status is second only to the Grand Duchess.

   Seeing her, everyone felt relieved.

Just like building a cathedral, it is necessary to lay a solid foundation first, and then buy and tempt it when things come to an end. It is bound to get twice the result with half the effort. Louis XIV calculated the future territory and title for his eldest son twenty years ago. How could the Italian peninsula be left blank? There was no need for an army, no nobility, and even spies didn't play the most important role - it was the French merchants who ultimately gained the Sicilian trust.

  While European merchants were still keen to sell mud duck, chalky bread, and even parchment boots, French merchants were surprisingly creditworthy as the first people to look for buyers and sellers.

Because in regard to commerce and trade, France has extremely detailed and strict laws, and it has been extended to places outside the law - almost all businessmen who dared to use shoddy goods and deceived and deceived were hanged from street lamp poles. - Not to mention that they are in other countries or colonies, the occupied territories can do evil things. Whenever French officials, troops and envoys go to places, the first thing they do is to read Louis XIV to the local people in French and local languages. issued law.

The French embassy in Palermo has a small external room with a window on the street. Every day, a clerk reads out the legal provisions aloud. Any French, whether a businessman or a soldier, violates the legal provisions. Victims can appeal to him and, in general, receive a sum of money and be told how the offender is being punished.

  The people of Palermo were in disbelief at first, until a daring man appealed—with some behind him—and he was answered, satisfied. At this point, the Sicilian people were surprised to find that the French were not lying, and their officials were fairly impartial.

   It’s just that there are not many lawsuits that need to be arbitrated. French businessmen have had enough of the sins of the Bastille and the slave ships, but they dare not touch the majesty of the Sun King easily.

Amazingly, they also forged the authority of the Sun King among strange people in strange places, because these people always say that since their king can issue such a merciful and fair will, he must be a very wise man. And a good king who is merciful to his people, and whose officials are willing to enforce his laws so strictly, that we need not fear that they will renege at any time and deceive us.

In this way, when Madame Milady brought her will, telling them that the Ottomans were likely to use Sicily instead of Malta as a breakthrough u, many people believed, and not only that, they also accepted Madame Milady's exhortation, Do not confront the Ottomans head-on, yes, Mrs. Milady will not question the bravery of the Sicilian, but how brave, there is no regular army in Sicily, and the scattered family armies are fighting with each other or setting off small-scale riots. It's useful, but when it comes to an army like Ottoman Turkey that doesn't need to be stingy with ammunition and personnel, it's just a beetle arm to block the car.

Yes, they can prove their courage with flesh and blood, but this means that no matter which side wins the final victory, Sicily will be covered with black veil, maybe fifty years, or a hundred years later, the Sicilian people can gradually A respite from the great attrition, and... given that either the Savoy or the Habsburgs will continue to rule in the future, the population gap will also make their family extremely weak and difficult to revive.

   Mrs. Milady's reminder immediately made the men in the room feel embarrassed and sad. But Milady just smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged, everyone, the opportunity we've been waiting for has come."

   "Are you talking about the departure of Muhammad IV?" Alberto's father asked cautiously.

"Yes," said Mrs. Milady, "the Transylvanians rebelled." She went on: "They are a direct threat to Istanbul, so as the master of Istanbul, Muhammad IV must go back. of."

   "What does that have to do with us," Alberto's mother asked impulsively: "He will come back, and those... rude soldiers won't go with him.",

   "Indeed," Milady said, "the 200,000-strong army will come across the sea, and they will not return empty-handed. The Sultan will let the Grand Vizier continue to attack Italy, and there will still be troops in Sicily..."

   "You, no, should you say what does King Louis XIV of France want us to do?" asked the Palermo parent.

"Most of the Ottoman Turks are in Naples now," Naples is now a quagmire, dragging the French-Italian army and the Ottoman army, "Mohammed IV may also take about three 10,000 to 50,000 people."

"Even so, that's about the same number left in Sicily," said Alberto's father: "It's still not a number we can fight, or, if we want to fight, we should fight in the first place, not Delay until this time." It's an ending anyway.

   "You don't need to go to war with the Ottomans," said Milady: "Sir, destroy their warehouses, destroy their roads, destroy their ships."

  —————

Alberto only stayed at home for a short time, and then returned to the Norman Palace as usual. The sultan was carrying countless furniture, utensils and attendants, but when he was about to leave, the speed was still unexpected. Very fast, he only brought the "most beloved" ones, and he rode a huge luanyu across most of Sicily, boarded a ship in Syracuse, and headed for Istanbul.

He had planned to take a boat in Palermo and go around the southern side of Sicily - because his car was too heavy, the boat was faster than the land, but then they would pass through the Malta Strait between Malta and Sicily, Because Malta is still in the hands of the Knights Hospitaller, in order to avoid accidents, the Sultan chose Syracuse. He was not even willing to choose Catania, which was closer. On the one hand, it was because Catania was very close to the volcano. On the one hand, it is because there are still French ships near Messina.

   "Write a letter to the Archduke of Austria," Muhammad IV said to his clerk: "Ask him if he has pinned the French fleet in the Mediterranean."

This letter is not so much an inquiry as it is a reproach, because Leopold I promised that he and the British would drag the French fleet in the English Channel and the Atlantic, but at most the Mediterranean, but the British had already had a fight before. A tragic defeat, and I don't know if the promise can be fulfilled. When he was two days and one nights away from Syracuse, his spies came with a letter from Leopold I, and the spies said that, as far as they could see, the French fleet was indeed taken by the Dutch and the English. The Spanish fleet of exiles was dragged a thousand miles away from them, and when they were at war, the cannonballs were incessant, and the black smoke went up to the sky-because the steam ships will emit black smoke, so it is very easy to verify.

   At least none of the French ironclad ships are in Italy.

   Otherwise, they should have appeared when the Ottoman Turks were about to land in Sicily.

Saying this, Muhammad IV felt a little relieved: "If only we could have as many ironclad ships." He said to the Grand Master, and the Grand Master just frowned, for this- Maybe the devil's machinery was used. They haven't decided whether to accept it or not. In addition, he pondered for a while and didn't try to spoil the Sultan's interest: "Then we must ensure the safety of Bulgaria."

Transylvania is in the middle and lower part of what is now Romania, between Istanbul and it is Bulgaria, since they have threatened Istanbul, that is to say, they may have occupied most of Bulgaria's territory, the largest of Ottoman Turkey. The iron ore is in Bulgaria, and the most important material for those ironclad fleets is black iron. It is understandable for the Grand Master to say this, and Mohammed IV nodded, indicating that he understood.

No matter how luxurious or spacious the cabins are, there are limits, and they are more often on deck, the flat and open fore deck, carpeted, tented, and soft velvet pillows, no more than a sultan. How much is the battlefield tent? Mohammed IV talked to the Grand Master about how many weak courtiers he would strangle with bowstrings, while enjoying the cool sea breeze and transparent sunshine, although he could overlook the ocean from the cliffs of Istanbul. , but looking at the sea is a completely different feeling.

Alberto listened to the conversation between the Grand Master and Mohammed IV - hardly understood, but it seemed that they didn't care how much he listened to. As a child of the big family, he knew it was because the former probably didn't. Seeing them as human beings, they were things that could be disposed of at will, and he was silent and attentive to the sultan.

   The **** chief was gently touched, he turned around, and saw a little attendant whom the sultan had been fond of recently raised the teapot to him, shook it, and it was empty.

   He nodded, and Alberto quietly backed away holding the teapot. When he went to the "kitchen", a pair of arms suddenly stretched out from the darkness and hugged him tightly!

Alberto almost screamed, but the familiar scent made him suppress his voice. He opened his eyes and looked over, only to see a wretched sailor, his limbs were thin like seaweed, but powerful. Like a cowhide being tightened, he smiled slightly when he saw Alberto's suspicious look: "Okay," he said in Madame Milady's voice, "I'm here to pick you up."

What? Alberto was completely confused, because he was going back to the Sultan, so he did not participate in some of the subsequent issues, so as not to show traces.

   "There's going to be a war here," Milady said. "I promised your mother that I would take you back to her safe and sound."

   "How to go? They will come to me soon!" As soon as Alberto finished speaking, he heard someone screaming frantically! "French! French ship!"

   Long live the founding of the party!

   (end of this chapter)