I Am Louis XIV

The behavior of the Duke of Lorraine is not despicable, but randomness has always been his advantage, he thinks so, although he also feels that this matter may not be so smooth, but the king and the judges of the High Court pretended to discuss A few days later, the answer given to him was quite satisfactory. The king bought the right to use Lorraine with one million livres, and the ownership of the Duke of Lorraine a hundred years later, but the one million livres It has to be divided into three-year installments, and as interest, the Duke of Lorraine can get 350,000 livres a year, which can almost satisfy the Duke of Lorraine's big appetite.

There is also the King's Palace, the right to use the original Richelieu residence. The King gave the Duke of Lorraine ten years of rights at one time. He can live here like a monarch and enjoy all the conveniences and fashions of Paris. His first When he came to see the king for the first time, he still wore a dark coat and a heavy jeweled belt according to the tradition. His hair was tied up after being smeared with oil, and the perfume on his body was so strong that it could kill.

By the time he came to see the king for the third or fourth time, his hair was stretched like seaweed and curled around his shoulders, his coat was bright lake green silk, his shirt was white, with cuffs and lapels They are all inlaid with exquisite lace, and his hat is decorated with very long ostrich feathers, which can almost hang down to the back. Because of the relationship between bathing every day, his skin is no longer so rough, and even a little translucent and shiny after powdering.

He also spent a lot of money to hire a chef who was said to be an imperial doctor, and courted Champagne, the king's barber, so that he had the right to be ahead of those noble ladies. The fairer purple jasmine powder and rose rouge are also very popular. The first time the king saw men using rouge was on the Duke of Lorraine. According to him, it was to cover up the scars caused by the disease. It’s true and nine points false, but I don’t know why, this kind of dress has become a fashion in the court, maybe because men find that using rouge will not hinder them from showing their bravery—yes, that’s right , They think it is a kind of arrogance formed after drinking strong alcohol, or engaging in intense exercise, such as hunting or dueling-it looks healthy and strong.

Fortunately, the level of this dress is not very deep, at least not so deep that it surpasses the ladies. When Louis looked down at the nobles dancing from his seat, he saw the two lines that were originally distinct—before Louis formally came to power, The clothes of French men are similar to those of Spaniards, that is, mainly dark coats, but now there are very conspicuous bright colors, especially Prince Philip, he doesn’t like anything that makes him feel heavy, the throne is like this, clothes The same is true for color, looking at his younger brother who is graceful in figure and light in movement in the minuet team, the king is thinking of Valo Vesalius.

Louis vaguely remembered that artificial dyes appeared in the early nineteenth century, and the main raw material aniline came from coal tar, but in this magical world, a wizard refined something similar to aniline two hundred years in advance. His original intention It is used to help the king identify soil and ore. Yes, this is what Louis needs now. You know, no one knows what kind of soil is suitable for planting in a place, just like he has been trying his best to promote potatoes and sweet potatoes. , but the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes in some places is not satisfactory, but if you have this reagent, then the next work will become simple, just look for those lands that are exceptionally friendly to some crops, and use soil input reagents , note the color, and compare it to the soil in the new plot.

And it also has an important role no less than that of reagents, that is, industrial dyes. Although after hundreds of years, industrial dyes have changed from being loved by people to being hated by people, and plant and animal dyes are highly praised, but we must When it comes to convenience, cheapness and stability, no one can compare to artificial dyes. This is the product of industry. It is the enemy of nature, but in a short period of time, it is the savior of mankind. It has developed so rapidly over hundreds of years.

And here, the existence of magic provides another possibility. It is ridiculous to say that idealistic magic can greatly promote the development of materialistic science, because the research steps can be accelerated or even jumped along the results. The king thought Here, I can’t help but smile, no, it’s too early to say these things, the Academy of Sciences now has less than two hands and two feet of scholars, and there are only two discussion meetings a week, if you force the expectation of industrial development on them, Undoubtedly it is counterproductive.

But in the next few years, even if the dyes prepared by the wizards are not enough to supply the entire market, at least in the court, those diverse and bright colors will definitely become the protagonists.

"What a sight that would be," the king said to himself, and then the queen beside him cast a puzzled look, and then she smiled, "Yes, your majesty, there are some lovely things here." And beautiful young man."

Louis looked at the people in the middle of the hall, who were dancing to the music. There were indeed several beautiful ladies smiling at him shyly and excitedly. The king knew that they were the maids who appeared next to the queen recently. It is important to mention that the French—this tradition also made the king feel helpless. From England to France, starting from François I and Henry VIII, it seems that all All the wives of the royal family have to be queen maids for a period of time. I really don't know what those people think, they have to arrange the two enemies together.

The queen may not be so magnanimous, she came here to find allies among the French, recommending their daughters or nieces to the king is a means, and she also does not want to see a regular Her lover, she shared the same idea as the ministers, they would rather the king be merciless than have him focus all his attention on one woman. "Next is the Irish dance," the queen asked softly, sideways. "Doesn't Your Majesty want to dance with a favorite bird?"

"I would rather dance with you," said the king, but this was only a compliment, because according to tradition—or tradition, it is quite inappropriate for the king and queen to continue dancing together after leading the dance. , should be occupied by his royal wife, or those ladies who are eager to try.

But when the king said this, the queen felt a bit of reluctance. She was mediocre and a foreigner. When welcoming her to France, some of Louis' ministers laughed at her. They think she can't understand, but since Teresa got Louis' letter, of course she will study French hard, but she didn't say anything, what can she do, look at the current king Queen Mother, even if she has two sons, one is the king and the other is the Duke of Orleans, her rights are still limited to the Louvre, and she cannot even touch such a major event as the king's marriage.

What she is most grateful for in this marriage is that she has a husband named Louis. He does not love her, but respects her, no matter when and where, and he is not so enthusiastic about love. In other words, the current king is all-hearted. The only thing she pursues is royal power, which keeps her from suffering too much.

But she has to say this today, because not long ago, Charles II's envoy came to Paris and made a request to the king, that is, to try to conclude a marriage between Princess Henrietta of England and the Duke of Orleans of France. The marriage between the younger brother Philip continued the "friendship" between Britain and France. Even if Teresa saw this request, a large part of it came from Charles II. It is rare that the British Parliament did not raise objections, perhaps because Britain is now locked in a never-ending war with the Netherlands and is clearly at a disadvantage - they are looking for allies.

This marriage is very likely to be successful, because the king needs warships, naval officers and soldiers, as well as shipbuilders and ship repairers, but it is conceivable that Britain cannot easily hand over these, which seem to be designed by nature. Two young people, their marriage is actually a transaction between two countries. The negotiation may last for a while, and it should not be too long, but now some people are worried about the people around the king——Lavalier Although the lady belongs to France in name, her husband is just a status symbol and has no relationship with her. She is an Englishman and has been Princess Henrietta's maid for several years. After Princess Etta gets married, will the royal lady reconnect her relationship with the princess? It is really unpleasant for two British people to be beside the king and his brother.

It's just that there is only so much Teresa can do. She and Louis have a child, and the first thing she understands during this period of getting along is that although this His Majesty is gentle and humble, there is only one thing, which is absolute People are not allowed to overstep—that is, he will only act according to his own decisions, especially matters related to himself, not the country and the people. Anyone who wants to lead or persuade will not escape the king's wrath .

Louis also saw the disappointed gazes cast by those lovely little ladies, he didn't take it seriously, he didn't even want to let his younger brother be deceived or persecuted in the slightest in terms of personal emotions, and he himself didn't want to will be weak enough to succumb to meaningless traditions—more precisely, the traditions he approves of are traditions, and the others are either those he thinks he can use, or he doesn’t care about, or he doesn’t care about at all Gu.

When the dancing stopped, the king was seen rising from his seat and leaving the hall.

—————

While the ministers in the court were still bowing to the king's back, the king's special envoy and Varo Vesalius had arrived in Lorraine.

"There's coal here," Vesalius said.

The king's envoy, that is, d'Artagnan's cousin, Mr. Pierre, he does not have a silver tongue like his cousin d'Artagnan, but he is more stable and reliable, loyal and generous, and taciturn. Less language is a disadvantage in other places, but it becomes an advantage when walking with a wizard. "There is a lot of coal here," he said: "The quarrymen here in Lorraine sometimes dig coal." Only in this era, only those poor enough to afford firewood would use coal for heating and cooking, and as long as people with a little wealth would still pile enough firewood by the fireplace, this phenomenon even continued hundreds of years later , although the wood at that time was just a visual illusion.

"Your Majesty told me that he needs a lot of coal." Vesalio said with a little excitement: "There is a lot of coal here, beyond your imagination."

"Well, if this is what His Majesty wishes," Pierre said.

"There is also iron." Vesalius showed Pierre the black solution, and Pierre boldly took the potion bottle, but in this regard, he and Count d'Artagnan still have some similarities.

"What else did you find?"

"The soil here is very similar to that of the New World." Vesalius said: "We have to measure the climate, maybe it will be suitable for growing potatoes here."

It turns out that it is not potatoes that are suitable for growing in Lorraine, but cotton.

Cotton has not been in the sights of Europeans for a long time, but compared with silk and woolen cloth that only a few people can enjoy, cotton cloth has undoubtedly replaced linen as the most popular fabric for the middle and lower classes, but cotton is the only crop that It is difficult to produce abundantly in Europe or the United Kingdom, so so far, cotton fabrics are mainly imported from India. The British have been arguing for a long time about this, and have continuously raised the import tax on imported fabrics (cotton, linen and silk) from India. However, this dumping situation still shows an unstoppable momentum.

This was unexpected to Louis, but as long as cotton is handled properly, it is also an asset that is easy to make a profit, and cotton can be blended with wool and silk to weave different fabrics, which is pure silk again. Or cotton cloth, woolen is incomparable, and the king and the planned spinning machine...,

In addition to these, coal and steel will affect the later steam engine plan, and, with coal, the manufacturing of glass and porcelain can also be put on the agenda... These outputs require a lot of fuel. The king originally thought that there is really no In the case of a solution, he can only say sorry to the forest of Lorraine, but with coal, these trees can escape the poisonous hands of humans. After all, the forest at this time belongs to the lord, and then it will belong to the king.

Also, regarding the use of coal, the king needs to put it on the agenda of himself and the people to see if it can replace firewood—and, there is also the potion of the wizard Vesalius, which is indeed extracted from coal, but This kind of potion, if the king is not mistaken, can also be refined from ordinary coal.

Then add the dye.

The people of Lorraine are about to begin their busy and miserable lives, thought the King.

———————

In the previous Bilinius peace treaty, in addition to dividing southern Luxembourg to France, Spain also gave up ownership of Alsace, although Alsace was almost completely occupied by France at this time, and Dunkirk There is not much difference - which is of course good news for France, because Lorraine has always been biased towards the Holy Roman Empire. Although the Duke of Lorraine swore allegiance to the King of France, he often sought refuge with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. If it were not for the Peace of Pilgrinius, Louis’ army ensured that King Philip of Spain did not dare to backtrack, insisted on taking away the ownership of Alsace, and blocked the direct communication between Lorraine and the Holy Roman Empire (Alsace Located between the Holy Roman Empire and Lorraine) So whether the Duke of Lorraine is willing to hand over Lorraine is still in doubt.

Since the Duke of Lorraine is willing to pay one million livres in installments, the ownership of a palace, and the title of blood prince in exchange for Lorraine, the army used to deter the Duke of Lorraine can also complete their mission and withdraw Versailles, the king ordered Bontang to inform Madame Lavallière and go with him to Fontainebleau, and in a hypocritical gesture to show that the king knew nothing about the changes in Lorraine, he went to the royal palace. For the Queen Mother, when he leaves Paris, although most officials and government affairs will follow him, the affairs of Paris still need the Queen Mother and...

The queen mother saw the king's hesitation: "What's the matter? Your Majesty?" She was very happy that the king could follow her advice and take Mrs. La Vallière to Fontainebleau alone.

"I was thinking of Philip," whispered the King.

"What do you want him to do?"

"I cannot decide, mother," said the King, "whether he should remain as taskmaster at Versailles, or whether he should go to Lorraine."

So the queen mother was also silent. For her, of course, she hoped that the Duke of Orleans could stay in Paris. Selfishly, Versailles is the king's private domain. The people are loyal to the royal family, and their lives are rich and peaceful. Even if a huge water diversion and drainage project is being carried out to build the new palace, the biggest danger is the giant flower mosquito in the swamp, because They were quite likely to cause dysentery, but even that danger the king had urged doctors (wizards in fact) to remedy with herbal solutions.

Then the only danger left is dust and accidents, but these are the workers to face, and the officials who stay there are hunting and fishing to pass the time...

But for Philip, if he were here, he would be clamoring to go to Lorraine.

Of course, everyone knows that Lorraine will be the easiest place to obtain merit, but the ease of obtaining merit also means that the governor and officials there must always face danger. This is inevitable. First of all, those civilians are afraid It is difficult to understand the king's intentions. For them, the Duke of Lorraine has sold Lorraine to the king. Those newly discovered minerals and new crops will only make them bear heavier labor, even if the king's officials say, It is useless for the king to give a salary, because the party members of the former Duke of Lorraine and the local nobles will definitely distort the king's will.

There are also Habsburgs who have never given up on Lorraine or even Alsace. They must be willing to cause some trouble to France.

Rebellions will definitely appear, and they will continue to appear. It is necessary to ensure that the king can immediately draw enough wealth from Lorraine, to ensure the huge expenditure of the royal family and the army, and to ensure the interests of the people of Lorraine, and to stabilize the French in Lorraine and Alsa. It is necessary to defeat the conspiracy of Habsburg and other countries—it really needs a noble, wise and strategic person to go to Lorraine.

Plus more achieved.