I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 69 The king got what he wanted and the two missing guys

   Bishop Mazarin heard the king's laughter in the corridor.

Such laughter has not been heard for some days. People with ulterior motives often say that Mr. Bishop treats the king like his own days. This sentence is not without malice, but what these people don't know is that Mr. Bishop does With a fatherly affection for the king, he didn't want to put the burden of the country on that young shoulder so quickly, but since the king has repeatedly shown the talent of belonging to a ruler, Mr. Slowly letting go of affairs - the thing about Arthas is one he picks out, whether the king chooses to give up Arthas, or borrows money from the merchants, or continues his gambling business, Mazarin does it all himself. He believed that there was a way to end it, but the king's worries and hesitation during this period of time still made the prince in red feel pity.

   Hearing this kind of laughter and the testimony of the letters transcribed by the spies, Bishop Mazarin could already be sure that the information he had obtained before was indeed true, and he couldn't help but look a little relieved.

When the king saw Bishop Mazarin, he asked him to sit beside him. At this time, his smile hadn't even disappeared. The traces left the young king finally had some of the incompetence that a teenager should have. With a carefree appearance, he directly showed a letter to the cardinal. It was a letter written to him by the Duchess of Montpensier. For the pain and guilt of the Duchess after she left Paris, she sincerely asked the king to forgive her and allow her to come back to Paris, to the court, to the queen mother and the king, without mentioning anything in the letter. When it came to the Prince of Condé, there was no mention of the Duke of Gaston, or anyone associated with them, much to the relief of the King and the Bishop.

Of course, being a good and understanding cousin, the Duchess of Montpensier enclosed a draft worth half a million livres, which immediately relaxed the king's tense heartstrings, although there were still gaps, But as long as it is properly funded, the rest is just a normal day-to-day affair.

"I know you have asked two young men to do this," said the Bishop dutifully. "I must say that I have always been worried about this, but now it seems that it is entirely my fault, Your Majesty, you His eyes are strong enough to pierce a thousand feet of rock and bring out gleaming gems."

"But the first one to point them out to me, Monsieur Bishop," said the king humbly, "isn't it you? They are D'Artagnan and Colbert." D'Artagnan clearly It was introduced to the king by the bishop of Mazarin, but although Colbert was deliberately promoted by the king, he also passed the test and permission of the bishop.

"Ah, are they actually them?" The Bishop exclaimed half-truths, "I thought I gave you a Lucurus (ancient Roman general), but he turned out to be a Cicero (ancient Roman orator)? ?"

Louis knew it was D'Artagnan that he was talking about, but when he said this, the king's face became a little strange, and he took out another letter from the drawer - a note rather than a letter , Mr. Bishop took it over and read it briefly, and then he understood why the king showed such a look, because Mr. D'Artagnan's actions can be said to be completely contrary to morality or etiquette.

  ——

   Let’s turn the time back a little.

M. Colbert thinks that D'Artagnan has done nothing but enjoy his love and the Duchess's horses, wine, and steaks, and he is wronged. It was not easy for D'Artagnan to be a duchess's maid to obey her own words. In addition to the money given by the king, he also borrowed three hundred gold louis from Monsieur Colbert, and he would be qualified to meet the king. After buying nearly 10,000 livres, I finally exchanged for the maid's heart. Since this is the case, the next thing becomes easier. After all, what D'Artagnan wants to know is not a secret. As long as he's been in Saint-Falgo long enough, he'll know it, but what d'Artagnan lacks is time.

   asked him to say that being able to buy this time with money is simply not worth it.

D'Artagnan knew from this maid that although the Duchess of Montpensier was wealthy, she did not know much about her assets and income. She returned to her father when she was a teenager and was in the territory. The various affairs of Gaston are handed over to the Duke of Gaston, and then every year, or when the Duchess needs it, the Duke of Gaston will send her the income - just like not long ago, she was repairing St. Fargo Castle, the Duke of Gaston immediately sent 100,000 livres, and then another 200,000 livres.

But even a maid who is not good at mathematics knows that the Duchess's territory should have at least 500,000 livres in income every year, but after the Duke Gaston sent 300,000 livres, there was no movement. , now that the year is coming to an end - not to mention the previous years, the Duchess has been staying in her own castle, with little to no major spending, but her savings is still only a million livres No, this number is really scary.

   D'Artagnan asked her if no one wanted to remind the Duchess?

   Maybe, but as long as the Duchess Montpensier doesn't want to listen, it's useless to remind her, or she is deliberately blinding herself so that she can continue to be immersed in illusory dreams.

D'Artagnan did not continue to ask, and he also knew that if he rashly mentioned this to the Duchess, let alone the task given by the king, it might not even be possible to continue living as a guest in the Castle of Saint-Falgo. , the duchess might have to entertain herself with whips and irons, so he immediately went to another man whom the duchess liked and bought him a thousand livres.

This person is Jean-Baptiste Poclain, but he is better known by another name, that is, Molière, which means ivy in French. It was a pity that his fate was unfortunate. Since he gave up his original "hereditary status" in 1643, that is, the so-called royal servant, and the factual status of the supplier of royal furnishings, he has been with friends. The troupe they formed was not as popular as he had imagined - the plays at this time were mostly solemn and sacred religious plays, or the romantic performances of the next, and the plays he wrote were considered too frivolous and even a little vicious. , so it was never favored by the nobles, until the Duchess of Montpensier came to Saint-Falgo. He was at the meeting and aroused a little interest of the Duchess, so he was allowed to stay at the Castle of Saint-Falgo to perform for the Duchess. Some funny jokes.

This made Molière both fortunate and distressed, but if D'Artagnan had not taken out the status of the special envoy of the king, even if there were a thousand more M. River Molière, he would not be willing. Performing for the king, his heart could not help but shake.

Of course, D'Artagnan could not have told the Duchess so bluntly that her father, the Duke of Gaston, was a total ghost. Ashamed, maybe even angry, so he just asked Monsieur Molière to write a short new play about an old father who loves money more than anything else, who takes away his daughter's inheritance from her mother, And because he is unwilling to prepare a dowry for his daughter and wants to marry his daughter to an elderly nobleman, Molière does have a wonderful pen. The father's greed and the daughter's innocence are vividly depicted, and people cry and laugh when they see it. Especially at the end, the merciful His Majesty the King personally found a good marriage for the daughter, but the father was forced to. Returning her daughter's inheritance and dowry, saying a long, vicious remark to accuse her daughter, and being unapologetic about her own sins - again irritating the audience, who shouted for Morrie Sadly revised the ending, at least this greedy person should be punished, but did not notice that the Duchess of Montpensier had left in a hurry.

No one knows what the Duchess of Montpensier was thinking. That night, her maid found D'Artagnan, and D'Artagnan found Colbert. Colbert could be said to have been reading a book all night long. The accounts of the whole room finally came up with an answer that made the Duchess furious and disheartened - that her father had taken millions of livres for his own personal gain in running the realm for her, and he used these livres Raising his army, expanding his territory, lending or buying and selling, and spending the money on his wife, lover and children, was the most unbearable thing for the Duchess, who was crying alone in her room In one night, she rode away from St. Fagor the next morning, and on the sixth day she brought back nearly 1,600,000 livres.

D'Artagnan didn't know how she got this good piece of meat back from the Duke of Gaston, but the Bishop just glanced at the king and guessed that in the hands of the Duchess of Montpensier, there must be something A lot of it came from the Duke of Gaston. The king wrote down this point in the pamphlet. Of course, he hoped that the Duke of Gaston could spend the rest of his life in Blois in peace, but if not, he believed he had a way. Retrieve evidence from a cousin that could be deadly to the duke.

But before that, the king decided to give D'Artagnan and Colbert the rewards they deserved. D'Artagnan is relatively simple here. He wants Vauban's current position, and Vauban also proposed that he is more willing to serve the king in the Playing on the battlefield, well, as for Colbert, Bishop Mazarin suggested that he could come to his side. In name, he could manage the finances for the bishop, and the bishop could also take a good look at this unusual origin for the king. young man.

  The king agreed, and then he suddenly thought of a question. Although the messenger was faster than them, D'Artagnan and Colbert should have returned to Paris yesterday. What was it that delayed them?

  ——

  Being a vampire.

   (end of this chapter)