I Am Louis XIV

The favorable advantage won by the monks before was taken away by the vampires again. This time the vampires didn't even hide it anymore. After being a little full, they turned those moaning and crying people into Monsters—they are stingy and only give a drop or two of blood. As soon as the blood enters a human's mouth or wound, that person immediately twitches violently, and his eyes roll up ugly, almost As far as the black eyeballs can't be seen, the square is no more than a corridor, and torches are lit everywhere, so their skin grows black hair, their backs are stooped, their fingernails and toenails protrude from their sleeves and shoe uppers, etc. The series of weird and terrifying changes made it clear for people to see. Their faces also changed under the catalysis, with their lips protruding forward and their noses shrinking. They looked like mice or bats.

As soon as they were able to stand up, they turned around and rushed to those same kind of people who were still in shock. This time, the human beings were smart enough not to block the corridor tightly, so some people who were terrified still rushed out, jumped into the moat, or It was to run up the temporary wooden bridge. When the priests and rebel leaders saw this situation, they knew that their plan was likely to fail. Faith is a double-edged sword. People firmly believe that there is healing power in the castle. They will attack the castle regardless of life and death when they are holy relics of disease, but when they find that they must choose between the black death and the death or degradation caused by dark creatures, they choose the plague without hesitation. After all, the priests The lords said that those who died of dark creatures or fallen people will never go to heaven unless they can buy an indulgence that is so expensive that they dare not even imagine the price.

But to be honest, those who can afford the indulgence here have either left or are with the Duke of Orleans. These ordinary people can get a handful of bean soup provided by the rebels (the reason why it is called a handful is because Because some of them are content with having no utensils such as wooden bowls at all), and many are even naked. They were afraid of death, but they were even more afraid of going to hell and suffering forever, so when they ignored the swords, arrows and bullets of the supervising soldiers and continued to run outside the castle, the rebel army suffered a considerable blow.

Some soldiers were also running after these people. The leader of the rebel army and the envoy of the Roman Church cursed angrily and shouted loudly, asking their officers to recruit and gather the soldiers again. Hundreds of soldiers appeared on the walls of the castle, which had run out of ammunition and food. They used small trebuchets to throw clay pots the size of a baby's head at the enemy's camp. Because the pots were small, they could be thrown very far The earthen jar shattered as soon as it fell to the ground, and a greasy liquid with a pungent smell flowed out of it. The rebel leader was still confused, and the church envoy couldn't help but change his face, "Let's go!"

Before his words fell to the ground, a rocket roared in, and the fuel spilled everywhere caught fire immediately!

The raging fire rose up like a high red wall in an instant, not only dividing the rebel army, but also surrounding them in small hells. Any place stained with that black liquid, even rocks and sand They are all burning, let alone people, and the people and horses who are on fire will inevitably run around frantically in search of a chance of survival, and the fire on them spreads in all directions like a plague.

"Calm down!" the rebel leader yelled, "They won't have much fuel!"

Humans began to use the black oil naturally formed underground as early as the ancient Greek period. The "Greek fire" that the king had been asking the scholars to study before could be used on warships. However, in France and areas controlled by France, The output of underground oil is not high, but there are abundant coal reserves in Lorraine, and coal tar is a necessary raw material for dyes, medicines and other quotations, so its extraction work has never stopped, so even in this era, The refining of coal tar cannot form a factory-like production, but the coal tar brought by the wizards is enough for the Duke of Orleans to create a catastrophe—it’s just that the rebel leader and the king probably didn’t expect that the Duke would endure it. They are only being used now. The rebel leader is right that there is not much black oil, but as soon as their camp is in chaos, General Schumberg's army will attack.

It turned out that General Schaumberg was unwilling to confront the rebels head-on because there were countless Black Death patients in front of the rebels. I learned from the king's bachelor that most of the plague spreads from exhaled breath and wounds. Or spread in saliva, and on the battlefield, no matter which one is difficult to avoid-but now, the Black Death patients recruited by the rebels have become the blades facing them. , their soldiers were also threatened by the black death, but these people turned their backs to the king's army. The soldiers of the king's army wore expensive gloves, covered their faces with soft silk, and held muskets in their hands. It made them feel at ease a lot.

They marched on the flames and on the corpses to launch the final attack.

The battle lasted until it was almost dark, and at the end, both sides were exhausted, and when the glaring sun shone on their faces, everyone couldn't help squinting their eyes, and at this moment, some people couldn't help but want to sit or lie down , but they were immediately caught or reminded by their vigilant and tenacious companions—not all the corpses on the ground belonged to soldiers, more of them were those who died of the Black Death, or people who didn’t know if they were carrying the plague— —It can be said that as long as any side has reinforcements, even if there are only a hundred people, they can win.

So when an army gradually appeared at the top with the sound of horns, they all looked over expectantly, and then the leader of the rebel army turned ashen, because he saw the color of royal blue.

That's the king's army.

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Louis opened the letter under the eager gaze of the Queen Mother and Mrs. Orleans Tool. According to the king's intention, the Duke of Orleans should leave Lorraine and Alsace where the Black Death spread as soon as possible, but the king was both relieved and worried. Yes, the Duke insisted on staying in Nancy. He, General Schumberger, the king's reinforcements, and the Lorraine lords who had defected to him tried to re-establish the French order in the chaos-the king fully understood The meaning of my brother, because he did the same when he rebuilt Paris. Although riots and plagues will cause a lot of deaths, causing social turmoil and political instability, on the other hand, such as Paris, such as Lorraine, such as In Alsace, these places do not completely obey the king, and the chaos is the best time for the king or duke to take absolute control.

Those who have opposed the king openly or secretly, if they die to the point where there is not even a single heir who can inherit the territory and title, will certainly arouse suspicion, and even some princes will question their masters because of this, but the riots It means that anything can happen, and the plague even almost destroyed the entire Florence, and the 80% death rate can be repeated in Lorraine or Alsace.

Those who besieged Fowlerville Castle were strangled by the vampires and the royal army, and not many survived, and the envoy of the Roman Church, a cardinal, was killed by Schaumbe before he could even say his name. If General Ge is beheaded, his existence will be a trouble, at least, he will bring more problems than benefits - he and other unknown people will be doused in black oil and burned, all of which are supervised by the general himself That said, it was guaranteed that no soldier would leave the bishop's clothes or jewels by taking the opportunity of removing the body.

The Queen Mother and the Duchess of Orleans certainly did not approve of the Duke of Orleans staying in Lorraine, but the Duke's attitude in the letter was very clear and resolute. They went to plead with the king, and the king could only promise that he would send more as soon as possible. Medicines and doctors, so as to minimize the chance of misfortune. Of course, he is willing to let his brother return to Paris as soon as possible, but the letter written by the Duke of Orleans to the king alone is full of anger-to those rebellious, to the Roman Church, For those vicious refugees, he was unwilling to flee back to Paris in despair, and he wanted to use his means to completely take Lorraine and Alsace back into the hands of the French.

"In that case," Louis said in his reply, "I grant you the greatest rights in Lorraine and Alsace."

Before long, everyone from the Queen Mother, to the Duke of Orléans, to Madame Lavallière, to Colbert, to the Count d'Artagnan...even the king's hairdresser and lace suppliers were harassed by the constant stream of visitors ——Because the Duke of Orleans committed atrocities in Lorraine and Alsace that even the devil would fear Not all the Lord and Sir are willing to surrender under the banner of the Golden Lily, and the power of the church is even more eager to move everywhere.

At this time, the rumor that the Duke of Orleans has a "holy object" is still like sparks in the coal pile, resurgent from time to time, and the Duke of Orleans has not even spent the slightest effort on it, as if he does not think that the matter of Fowlerville Castle will It's all over again, but just when those villains with ulterior motives think they've met an arrogant but stupid enemy, the Duke moves.

He now has about 5,000 new troops in his hands, and 8,000 vassals, for a total of 13,000 troops, which is enough even for a king-to-king battle, but he doesn't seem to care about getting the so-called Instead, they were pushed out flatly in a devastating way—they first went from Nancy to Verdun, then from Verdun to Tours, and then from Tours to Alsace... …along the way, he met no one, no matter how high the position, or the origin, or the great reputation, because "no one can compare with the king's brother." So he said, and then Gives orders for the soldiers to drive out anyone they see - villages, towns, castles and even monasteries, churches without exception, and if anyone persists, his soldiers set fire to the building and its occupants die.

This kind of behavior is comparable to that of the former Grand Duke Vlad III of Wallachia, but the human being who was supposed to be the vampire prince was only a few hundred miles away from the battlefield. The criminal law executed thousands of Turkish captives, but the actions of the Duke of Orleans had already caused as many deaths as the Black Death. Not to mention how "shocked" the Church of Rome was, even some merciful bachelors or lords were also shocked. Will persuade him to stop this horrific act, and some even claim that the Duke has been possessed by the devil.

But they only dare to talk, just like the former Vlad III, before he died, people said that he was a "kind and good man", and the duke also had his high-sounding reasons for doing so--now it has been proved , the fire is indeed the best way to deal with the Black Death, the flame will burn the seeds of the plague, he and his army have been safe and sound so far, the absence of symptoms is the best proof, and... the people in Lorraine and Alsace While gnashing their teeth hating him, the French from the line of Verdun-Tours enshrined the Duke as a half-saint, because the Black Death they feared was like the Duke after he did so. Like frost in the fire, it melted away without a trace.

In addition, the Duke of Orleans is not unreasonable. He did not massacre wantonly, he only forced the people of Lorraine and Alsace to flee and relocate. As for where they go, as long as it is not in France, he doesn’t care, but just look at the map , You know, the closest place between Lorraine and Alsace is the Netherlands (Netherlands), the Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland and the Kingdom of Sardinia. There is no doubt that these countries will not allow people who may carry plague seeds Refugees entered the country, and massacres began one after another. Interestingly, by this time, the vicious reputation of the Duke of Orleans had faded and was no longer so loud.

In the spring of the second year, the Duke of Orleans led the king's army and returned to Paris.

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Hearing this news, King Charles II of England laughed. Since he was crowned, he has lifted many of Cromwell's prohibitions, allowing people to drink, dance and gamble, and he also likes to hold various banquets and dances , or take the courtiers to hunt, so they are called the King of Joy by the people, but this smile makes anyone look at it, and they will never be able to say the word "joy".

His attendants all lowered their heads, not daring to look at their king. Hidden under the happy skin of Charles II was a ferocious face. Compared with Louis XIV, he was just a puppet, a prince, an elder, a minister. Yes, and now the Church of Rome dares to threaten him—the Church of Rome has lost control of this huge diocese for nearly a hundred years since it was driven out of England by Henry VIII, and now, the relationship between Charles II and the Parliament The rift also seemed to give the swarm of flies a fishy smell, and they buzzed around, trying to suck the blood from the wounded body.