I Am Louis XIV

It must be said that the Church of Rome has no good feelings for either the King of France or the King of England. The former once attacked and plundered Rome during the time of Philip IV, kidnapped the Holy Father at that time and imprisoned him for a long time. The church went to Avignon and controlled the church for nearly a hundred years, and then caused the funny scene of the three popes, and the latter, when Henry VIII carried out church reforms, to put it bluntly, behind a series of parliamentary bills supported by the king , It is the king’s disrespect and arrogance to the church. Although people say that it is Henry VIII’s last resort to ensure that he can have a legitimate orthodox heir, anyone with a little brain knows that Henry VIII The VIII's move at the time was still more of an old tune, that is, a war between royal power and religious power.

It is stipulated in the Supreme Act of the United Kingdom that the United Kingdom no longer sends a large annuity to the Pope of the Roman Church every year. The King of England, that is, the Pope of the State Church, has the right to specify church laws and regulations, appoint bishops, and obtain the highest judicial authority. Of course, the dedication of the bishops and priests to the church was naturally transferred to the king. Not only that, but the large assets and land owned by the churches and monasteries at that time were also taken into Henry VIII's pockets as a matter of course. Therefore, when people in later generations are talking about the king's love affairs, behind these rose-colored smoke are vulgar money and power struggles.

So this time King Louis of France was not surprised when he heard that the Black Death had also broken out in London. Since the church dared to do this to France, it could certainly do the same to Britain, which had almost completely got rid of their control, but he didn't know How will Charles II deal with this young king? The situation of this young king is even worse than that of Louis. Even if Louis was a child, the government was controlled by Bishop Mazaran, but even if Bishop Mazaran did not give up his power in the end, what the king had to face There is only one enemy, and the enemies that Charles II has to face are all over the House of Lords. Although the royalists in the House of Lords account for half of the people, like George Monk and Duke Amalbiel, they hope that the monarch There are not a few people who can end the chaos in England and hope that the monarch can stay quietly in the palace as a puppet, not to mention, there are still some who think that the monarchy should not continue to survive in England-Charles II Like a person stuck in the mud, every step takes a lot of energy.

Not to mention, there are many elbows around him, and Louis often wonders how he would regain power if he were Charles II - he may turn his attention to the House of Commons - Charles II may also be doing the same , because his reputation among the people is better than his reputation among the nobles, but traditionally, the British king cannot even appear in the House of Commons—but it is too difficult to win the support of the nobles, Louis knows very well, like this Man, it's hard to get real benefits out of empty promises or pompous names.

However, the church's stupid behavior may be an opportunity for Charles II. The British state church has been established for hundreds of years, and there are a large number of Protestants in the House of Representatives and the army. They do not recognize the Pope and the Roman Church, and will never allow it. They have made a comeback, so in this catastrophe, they will stand on the same side as Charles II, but there are still many devout Catholics in the UK. It is said that some pamphlets have begun to be circulated in London. Rumors spread more than the plague. Faster, people panic - is this God's punishment for England?

What is particularly worrying is that the Black Death epidemic in France did not appear in Paris and surrounding areas at least, but in Lorraine and Alsace. Although Lorraine is not far from Paris, under the crazy suppression of the Duke of Orleans, Paris There is indeed a solid and unshakable iron wall between death and death, but the British epidemic has appeared in London, the capital of this country, "The Duke of York will not do what Philip did." Louis half-jokingly said to Count D'Artagnan It is said that the Duke of York is the younger brother of Charles II. In the early years of the Battle of Dunkirk, he once fought with the Spanish and the British and French forces. escaped, so his name is not among the captives.

"How is that possible?" Earl d'Artagnan shook his head and said, London now has about 600,000 residents, and a floating population of 200,000 to 300,000. Even if the plague breaks out, starting from the King of England, the powerful and wealthy One after another moved from London to Oxford or the nearby countryside, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people who have not left. Even if there are more and more houses with chalked crosses, there are always some stupid people who regard their houses, meager property or Work is more important than the lives of yourself and your family.

Moreover, fire has never been a place that can be controlled by humans. London is different from Alsace and Lorraine. The latter two have a large area and few people, and the distance between towns and villages is considerable. Just like Paris, people are proud of living in the capital, and they are rarely willing to move away. In some remote places, the houses are as dense and dilapidated as the residential area next to the Paris Red Boy Market, and the building materials are even more broken wood. Lord, well, even if these people are not worthy of noble people's concern, the royal palace, cathedral and royal tombs in London are like the shining medals hanging on the chest of every British person-those who dare to set fire in London People, the judge will sentence him to death without hesitation, and before he is beaten to death by survivors.

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Count d'Artagnan's words were photographed back on his face a few days later, just as Charles II and the Protestants seemed helpless, and the crowd incited by the church began to take to the streets to hold mass in public While the procession carried the relics, the icons, and shouted for the King, for the Duke of York, and for a whole host of eminent men, a conflagration fell on London like a veritable thunderbolt.

...

The fire happened in the middle of the night. According to people’s recollection later, it first flickered in Pudding Alley, a foolish baker, Farino, who forgot to turn off the oven for baking bread, because Pudding Alley was in the most crowded place in the Old City of London, and it was still near the market. The rubbish piled up here, and the huts of the poor stretched out there, so the fire was out of control. The mayor of London was notified of the fire in the early hours of the morning, but unfortunately that day was Sunday, the day God stipulated that people can rest, so he dragged the matter until the afternoon of the same day, and the fire burned to the banks of the Thames River , Even people as far away as Oxford can see the coherent black smoke.

But under such obvious symptoms, King Charles II of Oxford seemed to be blindfolded by the devil's claws suddenly. Together with the ministers in the court, members of the House of Representatives, and the king's lover, the queen and the queen mother, In short, everyone just watched London burn until Wednesday, burning for 72 hours continuously, causing 13,000 houses to be burned, and churches in 87 parishes to be burned, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Even the cemetery was not spared, the corpses inside were like charcoal.

But on Louis's desk, there are many strange things about the fire. First of all, in 65 years, that is, a few months ago, Charles II warned the Mayor of London, telling him to be careful of the gas lamps hanging in the streets and houses, Requiring the night watchman to constantly loudly remind people to put out candles, fireplaces and lamps while patrolling - although Charles II's edict may not come out of London, it is really crazy to say that the mayor of London dared to violate the law Since the members of the House of Representatives and the generals in the army are willing to show their loyalty to the king, let alone the intrigues hidden under the brilliant surface, they also require people to maintain respect for the king. A small mayor has not yet despised the king's power .

It is possible to say that he was really negligent, but after people reported to him about the Great Fire of London, he could still tell them that it was his day off, and he calmly lifted his hat and went for a walk in the nearby park , that's quite interesting, isn't he worried that the minister or the king will hold him accountable? That's London! But he did it, rightly.

If this is not enough evidence, then the following statistics are even more telling. The fire swept through London, but the death toll was only five. In such a conflagration, hundreds of thousands of people can still calmly, under the guidance of what seems to be nothing, take their children, the elderly, and push a small car full of family property, and gradually withdraw from London, scattered in all directions .

To put it bluntly, even if Charles II forced all the citizens of London to be relocated, the number of people who died in conflicts and entanglements would probably exceed the entire number.

Of course, in contrast, the King and the House also suffered a lot this time. London can be said to have ceased to exist, and tens of thousands of people were homeless. According to preliminary estimates, the fire caused a loss of 10 million pounds, while London at that time His annual income is 12,000 pounds, that is to say, it will take 800 years to recover these losses-people are lamenting that God is too cruel, but at this time Charles II stepped forward, and in the name of the king, he Donated a large sum of money, and allowed people to temporarily enter the royal forest, rivers and lakes for hunting and fishing, and build huts in the king's territory. The noble and important ministers followed suit one after another, from the Duke of York to the most humble baron. Even if they could not afford money, they could still open up their territories for refugees to live temporarily.

As a result, people in London suddenly stabilized, even surpassing when the Black Death was still rampant—yes, the Black Death has almost disappeared. When people fled London, they would not bring their cellars and Even if these mice hide in the deep underground, they will inevitably be suffocated by the high temperature and thick smoke. When they die, the germs attached to them will naturally have nowhere to go-even those that died due to black People who died of illness also disappeared in the fire, no longer a threat to healthy people.

Charles II wrote to Louis again to buy cement houses from him so that he could rebuild London. He also saw those houses made of cement bricks and stones, and knew that they were not afraid of rain or fire. The letter promised to try its best to persuade the parliament to exchange this technology and raw materials with the latest warship blueprints.

"Is it only Charles II who is so shameless, or is every king like this?" Philip, Duke of Orleans, said jokingly.

Louis glared at him. Although Philip returned to the king intact, the imprint left on him by Lorraine and Alsace was so deep that no one can erase it. When he left Paris, he was still a carefree and ambitious boy Man, when he came back, although he was always smiling, when people couldn't see him, the shadow on his brow was deeper than that of a seasoned conspirator. After all, signing a death sentence is a one-off. It's another thing to send thousands of people to death with your own eyes and hands.

"Charles II is not only shameless," Louis stretched out his hand to Philip, beckoning him to sit next to him. This disaster, apart from allowing the French king to completely own Lorraine and Alsace as a blessing in disguise, is that he and Philip The relationship between them is getting closer, and he can now hand over the army to Prince Philip of Orleans with peace of mind, but Philip may have to rest for a few months, and the king is also busy sending some people in Burgundy and Orleans Move to Lorraine and Alsace, since those people don't know how to be grateful, the king thought, then he would take back his reward. "Charles II is still very cruel," said the king: "The fire of London has only caused Five people died, but that was only the most direct, because they were burned to death and suffocated to death," he said reassuringly: "There are still some people who failed to enter the statistical list."

"who?"

"The Black Death." The plague broke out in London for a year, and one tenth of the people died within three months. London is not as clean and tidy as Paris is now. The number of people infected with the Black Death will only increase. It may not be true that these people will disappear mysteriously when there is a fire. It can only be said that these people who could not escape were burned to death in their own rooms. And in the shed, but no one would think of or care about them, even their relatives and friends, after running out of London, I am afraid that they would not dare to admit that they had come into contact with the Black Death patients.

Thinking of the letter that Charles II wrote to himself before, those refugees must have undergone detailed screening before being admitted. Fortunately, the Black Death broke out quickly and the death rate was high. It only needs to be isolated for a week to tell the difference.

"You mean..." The Duke of Orleans squeezed the king's hand tightly.

"Yes, he is imitating you."

"But that's different!" Before that, Lorraine and Alsace could not really be said to belong to the French king. To be harsh, they were enemies, so Philip didn't have much time to burn villages and towns. Pity me, but London...that is the capital of England, where kings grew, were crowned, and lived.

"Don't forget," Louis said casually, "the same people who eagerly watched Charles I beheaded were the same people. Although Charles II was asked by the members not to pursue this matter, his heart must be full of Resentment." Just like him before.