I Am Louis XIV

Philip remained silent. In fact, the ashes of the Huguenots seemed to have never been extinguished. The prophecy of the Medici Queen Mary has become a reality. Although Henry IV was also a Huguenot, even if he converted, The Edict of Nantes was also issued to ensure the safety of Protestants, but the Huguenots were always worried about his conversion, thinking that he was a heretic and a traitor, and even his children and grandchildren were not qualified to sit in France. On the throne, they deserve to be punished! They all say that and do that, but such thinking is dangerous, not for others but for themselves.

Others said that the king was kind and kind. Only those who were closest to him knew how narrow-minded Louis XIV was, and he was vindictive. His tolerance was for the country, the French royal family, and himself. As Surrey said, he only looked at people for usefulness-like looking at an animal or a tool. When Louis was assassinated and stranded in the other world, many people encouraged Philip to take the throne ——It is impossible to say that there is no heartbeat, but in addition to the feelings for his brother, Philip often asks himself in the dark, can he be like his brother, freely switch between public and selfish, no, he can't He knew very well that even if he became a king, he would not be able to act like his elder brother. There was only one result—after serving as a puppet of Kong Dai or others for a period of time, he was beheaded by his elder brother.

The reason why the Huguenots have been able to survive until now is that they are really lucky. After the new king takes power, there are too many things to deal with, and they can't take care of them for a while. It is not impossible to deal with these people, but it will inevitably have an irreparable and bad impact on the current France, but judging from the king's gesture, as long as the war against Flanders is won, the end of the Huguenots It's about to come.

"I hate anything that is incomprehensible and ungraspable." The king murmured, but it was not a question that required an answer: "Philip."

"Here I am, Your Majesty," said Philip, standing up immediately.

"How is the preparation for the military parade?"

Philip reported everything at once--what happened to the chalk and paint that adorned the exterior walls, what happened to the flags hanging from the terrace, what happened to the flowering trees that adorned the windows, how the street drains were cleaned and repaired, and what happened. There are soldiers, their weapons and equipment, clothing and horses... and so on, etc. Of course, these tasks cannot be done by Philip alone, Sebastian Vauban and Count d'Artagnan are his assistant, but he was the only one who reported to the king, but the former did not have to worry about being taken away by him. This was not because they believed in the duke's character, but because it was well known that Philip, Duke of Orleans, was the first person in the king's heart. The Queen Mother is still a Queen, not even the Dauphin Louis Petit.

The trust given to him by the king is like the sun, so why should the moon be jealous and steal the light of the stars?

Sure enough, after hearing the return from the Duke of Orleans, Louis happily patted his younger brother on the shoulder. He valued this expedition very much. It will directly affect the king's rule and influence over Paris, Orleans, the whole of France and even Europe. As long as 50 years, if you succeed, you will get twice the result, but if you fail, you need to spend more energy and time to recover.

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Frank is a descendant of Rome and has inherited countless traditions from their ancestors. One of them is the triumphal ceremony, a grand triumphal ceremony that no general or even the emperor can refuse. They will also build a huge triumphal arch to celebrate To commemorate his own merits, there are still more than 100 triumphal arches from the ancient Roman period to today. When Louis' army besieged Castel Sant'Angelo, he also wanted to remove the Titus Arc de Triomphe or the Severus Arc de Triomphe and bring them back to France. , Dedicated to the king, fortunately, the three triumphal arches in Rome were already dilapidated, let alone demolished, even if they were pushed lightly, they would fall down, so they reluctantly gave up.

Louis thought, he doesn't need the Roman emperor's triumphal arch, what he needs is his own triumphal arch, every victory, every triumphal arch.

But before the Arc de Triomphe is erected, he must first let Paris and the whole of France see the glory that belongs to the king and build their confidence in the royal family. Don't give up the victory that is close at hand, and this time he will take his brother Philip to set off together.

So there was this military parade and expedition ceremony presented in front of the people of Paris.

All the Parisians had learned about it a month ago. After all, it is impossible to hide such things as renovating the exterior walls of buildings and renovating streets. People from other provinces know that this matter will take a little later, but 20 days is enough for them Arrived in Paris, Paris is overcrowded, even Versailles is full of people, God bless, the king has expected this a long time ago, a large number of rough concrete houses have been built for servants and horses, the new city of Paris—— That is to say, the three-storey small building built after the poor shacks were leveled has already been registered and sorted out, and the necessary furniture and utensils have been prepared. There are special officials outside Paris who are responsible for this matter—those dignitaries and dignitaries naturally Don't worry about not having a place to live. This move is aimed at those nouveau riche and eunuchs. They have been assigned a residence outside the city. Horse-drawn carriages are not allowed to enter the city. The number of horses and servants is limited. People were successfully blocked outside Paris, and everything was in order until the day before the expedition ceremony.

LeBron, the king's royal painter got up very early, or he may have slept for two or three hours. When he woke up, the sky was still dark, but the moon had set towards the horizon, and the stars were no longer so bright. The cobalt blue sky illuminates the black roof. In order to complete the work assigned by the king, the painter lives in the attic of the three-story small building at the end of the main road in the new city, that is to say, the fourth floor, where people store things and dry them. The clothes place is not suitable for living, not to mention the ventilation everywhere, and it is full of dust. Although he asked the landlord to clean it carefully, he still feels an indescribable strange smell.

But if you ask him, this place is still much better than the room he rented when he came to Paris. The house made of cement, a new or rediscovered material, is much stronger and cleaner than the wooden building. Because the walls and floors of the walls and floors hardly meet the holes and gaps needed for the survival of mice and insects, the nights in new houses are always very peaceful, but some people complain that this kind of cold walls lack human touch - LeBron thinks A lack of human touch is better than the plague and fever. Anyway, in those old urban areas, accidents of one kind or another happen every once in a while, not to mention the Great Fire of London not long ago. Wasn’t this fire Charlie? It's unknown what King II ordered people to do to end the dangerous blight, but LeBlanc knows that since then, no one has dictated to the King's plans to remake the city.

Oh, there is one more satisfying thing, the young painter took the coffee from the landlady's daughter, took a big sip contentedly, while holding the girl's plump waist, that is, if someone wants to have a private meeting with the lovely girl If you meet, you don’t have to worry about being noticed by a irascible old father or a jealous husband. After all, the solid concrete steps, as long as you don’t wear wooden shoes, will not make a creaking sound. Like now, the landlord is extorting money. LeBron agreed to lend this room to LeBron with a high rent, not including meals, but his daughter fell in love with the painter at first sight, the old father's plan was completely destroyed, and the girl did not wake up before her father Just send coffee and bread to the attic. If the landlord is careful, he will find that his lunch is obviously insufficient. At night, the girl will bring the cheese hidden in her skirt—when her old father is soundly asleep.

LeBron is not the kind of person who is heartless and ungrateful. He has already figured out that when he leaves, he will leave a jewel ring to this girl as a reward for these days.

Now, he is still concealing his identity, after all, he doesn't want to be disturbed too much before finishing his work. In addition, if this lovely person sitting on his lap knows that he is the king's chief painter, then A pure and clean feeling is about to change to a place he doesn't want to see. He has seen such things in the court so much that even the king can't avoid it, so he never does any tests on people's hearts.

With such a complicated mood, LeBron put down the cup and gently pushed the girl on him. Although the girl was very reluctant, she still picked up the tray and went down lightly. LeBron's feelings followed the graceful figure. Gradually disappeared and became cold, he opened the window of the attic, sat down on the protruding platform, his eyes moved along the concrete road illuminated by kerosene lamps, the horse lanterns swayed gently, from the darkness A line of musketeers walked out. They were wearing simple robes. They were obviously here to patrol and clear the street. The leader saw LeBron—he was too obvious. On the entire street, this was the only open attic. , beside LeBron is the royal flag hanging down. In the dim light, the royal blue shows a deep cobalt blue, but the golden lily embroidered with gold and silver thread is still shining.

The Musketeer captain took off his hat and saluted when he was ten feet away from LeBron, and so did LeBron. Then he began to quickly sketch the bright scene in his field of vision on the drawing board - the job entrusted to him by the king was not just to leave the figure of the king and his important ministers - he wanted to build a palace in Versailles like a giant The place of the gallery, in this large gallery, all the outstanding achievements of the king should be left, and as the first battle of the king, the king hopes that LeBron can record and describe from the beginning and the smallest place.

To put it simply, Louie just wanted a roll of coloring pages...

LeBron doesn't know what color comics are for the time being, but he has long suffered from being useless. The king certainly appreciates his style, but the strange thing is that although the king is beautiful and tall, he doesn't like being drawn very, very, very much, except When marrying Spain, he had to ask LeBron to paint a portrait. He didn’t have a second portrait. Even the small portraits in the pendants of the portraits of the Queen Mother and Queen were all from LeBron’s blind date. It was copied from the portrait. If it wasn’t for other members of the royal family who often called LeBron, LeBron would have wondered if his position as the chief painter would have existed in name only.

It was only when the grunting sound of the waterwheel came that LeBron finally brought his thoughts back to reality. After the musketeers left, the street cleaners also appeared. This position existed a long time ago, but the present and the past It is quite different. First of all, the king does not allow people to dump garbage on the street at will, and does not allow people to relieve themselves in corners and under walls. Their work is much easier-the rubber hose is connected to the water wheel, which is as early as cement. The material existed but was only applied under the research of the bachelor. The water sprayed from the water pipes flowed on the flat gray road. As clean as their faces.

At this time, the thin mist slowly rose in the streets and alleys, the light of the kerosene lamp became more and more muddy, and the houses were looming. LeBron stopped the charcoal pencil and stared at the scenery in front of him. The mist is a strange substance. People often think of it as white or gray, but in essence, it is something that can be affected and embellished by other scenery. The mist on the sky is silver, the mist beside the rose is tea-red, and the mist under the sky in the distance is bright white and orange-red. Seeing such colors, LeBron realized that the sky was already bright. Under the kerosene lamp hanging on the balcony railing, I saw the musketeers entering the house in twos and twos - everyone here has a permanent or temporary king's permit, otherwise they will not be allowed to stay and stay , Such inspections were done every day before, and this time is obviously the most important one.

Because the king is coming.

Not everyone is willing to obey the king's order, and this situation may continue for hundreds of years. Some people may not be malicious, but just want to take advantage of it or show how smart they are, anyway, they are all The musketeers were twisted out and thrown into the Bastille not far from here. Whether they can be released later depends on whether the king is willing to forgive them, but the forgiveness will only be after the end of the war. LeBron does not sympathize with them. Gleefully sketching a comical portrait for use in a Hell-related subject.

When the slight chaos passed, everyone in the house came out. Today, even the most difficult people put on their best clothes. Looking past, it is full of snow-white lace and colorful satin, shining The buttons are almost dazzling after the fog dissipates. Men, women, old people, and children are all excitedly crowding outside the window or door, waiting attentively for the arrival of the king and his army, although according to tradition, the king will not be so early Get up—at least not so early in the public, this time period belongs to close friends and important ministers.

But people didn't take it seriously, they whispered and whispered, the sound waves became louder and louder, and the sun shone on the cleaned road. After the rain washes away the excrement and dust, what is left is the bright and oily stones polished by horseshoe boots. Their gaps often form a strange and beautiful pattern, and the cement road, although he also praises its cleanliness It is flat, but the uniform color and texture make it look very dull, and it is difficult to show its unique beauty on the screen.

Before noon, however, the procession of Mass appeared ahead of the king's army. The generals of ancient Rome had to offer sacrifices to almost all the temples before going out to ensure safety. Nowadays, people only need to worship one god, but relatively, the god needs to be big enough. The mass procession is organized by the familiar Larry Cardinal Vierre led, surrounded by portraits of saints and crosses, perhaps against the backdrop of red sacrificial cloaks, he was extraordinarily rosy and energetic, and he was also extraordinarily powerful and tough when making blessing gestures to people.

People cheered because of this, and the holy names of God and saints were heard endlessly. The smoke of frankincense and myrrh replaced the remaining mist, so thick that LeBron, who was standing on the top floor terrace, could smell it clearly. He greeted the mass procession. With a gesture of respect, he sat down and recorded this exquisite and sacred picture.

After the Mass procession left, the pavement became less monotonous, because someone was throwing fresh flower petals all the way, and the colorful colors made the pavement look like a gorgeous tapestry. There was rhythmic drumming.

Now even LeBron couldn't help clenching his fists tightly. He hastily changed the paper on the easel and arranged the charcoal pencils to ensure that he would not interrupt the "record" because the charcoal pencils were broken. Looking ahead, gorgeous flags have appeared at the end of the street with the sound of drums.

The drummer and the bannerman first appeared, of course. The drummer’s drum is fixed on the left side of the body with a wide belt. The left hand holds the drumstick and the silk rope on the drum body to ensure that the leather drum will not shake. A drumstick beat rhythmically on the thin leather, and behind them were riders on horseback. The flags on their shoulders were almost as high as their length, with gilt tips and silver threads hanging down. Tassels, and below it a royal blue velvet banner with a large and prominent royal coat of arms.

Behind the drummers and riders is the King's Guards. Although they are the King's Guards, except for the honor guards such as the "Gentlemen's Hundreds" and "Swiss Centuries", these Guards will follow The king galloped with the soldiers on the battlefield. Many of the early guards were mercenaries from Croatia, but after Louis came to power, this team was gradually replaced by newcomers from Versailles, although the previous guards The army also performed their duties, but obviously, their loyalty is completely incomparable with those who have been directly favored by the king, and compared to the Croats, they are French and this is a great advantage.

These newcomers cannot be regarded as complete newcomers, because in the previous Battle of Dunkirk and the Battle of Lorraine-Alsace, they have undergone several severe trials, so those who can stand here, Almost all of them are already reliable fighters, their faces are resolute, and the military coats given to them by the king are solemn royal blue, with silver bars and silver buttons, and the inside of the turned-out sleeves is bright red, and the officers have epaulets, There are tassels on the epaulets and the belt, and when they shake, they sweep not only those strong bodies, but also the hearts of those girls and wives are unavoidably turbulent.

The Guards consisted of four companies, each with one hundred men, and under the intervention of the king, each company had one hundred cavalry. Although these infantry also rode horses and held muskets when fighting, In the army ranks, according to the tradition, they carried bright halberds on their shoulders. In all fairness, thermal weapons can never compare with cold swords visually. When hundreds of halberds are erected, such a steel jungle belt The sense of oppression given to people was indescribable, and the crowd even fell silent before cheering loudly.

Behind the shining steel are the cavalry of the Guards, with heavy ammunition belts hanging from their chests. The ammunition belts of each company have different colors to distinguish them from each other. New guns with barrels and rifling, they called them king muskets, Louis had nothing to say about this, after all, people at this time seemed to be keen to put the names of king, duke, earl, etc. on the front of new things, which is also Recognition and value for the royal family - just don't know what they should call the weapons in their hands after the muskets are further improved.

These dangerous ornaments were hung from the chest belt of the Guards cavalry, which also had several small hooks for hooking muskets, long swords and personal items such as wine bags and the recently fashionable tobacco.

These cavalrymen also received great cheers, because sitting on tall horses, they were also the first to receive the handkerchiefs and flowers thrown down from the terrace by the ladies and girls. A beauty whom they thought amiable took off her hat and saluted.

However, although these guard cavalry are bright, they can't help but be overshadowed by the later military cavalry. After all, the latter originated from the former edict knights. Compared with the mostly civilian guards, they almost all have a long and prominent history. Their identity and surname, their equipment is also more complete and traditional than that of the Guards, that is to say, they have armor, and the exquisite helmets and breastplates reflect bright luster like gold and silver in the sun. Also decorated with bright red ostrich feathers, the breastplate is often engraved with the family coat of arms and history of the armor, inlaid with fine and delicate patterns, or gilded in some places and made of real gold. The exposed red long coats have black velvet cuffs, and their hats are also black with white feathers. Some people call them dragoons according to Spanish sayings, and their muskets are dragon guns. The dragon in Spanish is pronounced carbine, and this musket is the predecessor of the modern carbine.

It's just that the people nowadays probably haven't thought of this. They shouted loudly and waved their arms at the gendarmes, but no one dared to touch them—everyone knew that they were real nobles.

In addition to armor, the gendarmes are also equipped with their favorite weapons, a pistol, a long gun, and a long sword are the most basic. Some are equipped with three short-handled muskets, and some are equipped with daggers and short swords. Some carried crossbows, and it is worth mentioning that, at the king's advice, they exchanged their tights and pumps for boots reaching to the knee, with spikes, all of pure silver Yes, it is brighter and more delicate than ladies' jewelry.

A person who was too greedy and stupid couldn't help but stretched out his hand to the spurs that were close at hand, and was kicked severely. Fortunately, because the king was behind, the victim could only be punished with small punishments, so He was not seriously injured except for the loss of a few teeth. Some people advised him to rest in his room, but he was unwilling. He had paid several crowns for this position.

This little episode had no effect on the king's parade except for a good laugh, and after the gendarmes came the company of musketeers, at the head of which was the Comte d'Artagnan, who cocked his head. He rode his horse and walked in the front—compared with the guards and gendarmes, the musketeers were dressed more casually. They wore the familiar cassock, which was a kind of opening in the middle, with seams on both sides, directly The cloak-style coat worn on the body is also dark blue velvet or satin, but there is a large white cross on the chest and back. Also after the king's suggestion, the length of the cassock was changed from below the knee to below the waist. This will allow them to move around more easily, and their white lace collars are opened wide, making them as eye-catching as their smiles.

It's a pity that the timing of their appearance is really not good, no, not because of their own reasons, but because people have seen the emergence of the "Gentlemen's Hundred". As we said before, the "Gentlemen's Hundred" is the king's honor guard , Originally there should be a place for the "Swiss Centuries", but Louis deliberately established a specific national consciousness, so only the Gentlemen's Centuries walked before the king, and different from the previous tradition, the Centuries here In fact, many people were the generals and marshals of this battle—the Prince of Condé, the Viscount Turenne, Vauban and other generals were the first to bear the brunt—but no matter how gorgeous they were dressed or how brilliant their achievements were, they could not Compared with the kings they surrounded.

Today the young king is only wearing a royal blue long coat with snow-white cuffs turned up, a crown robe lined with ermine fur is draped over his body, shiny epaulettes are dangling on one side, and bright red shoulder straps hang on his chest , wearing an ankh, with a musket and sword hanging from his waist, like a musketeer and a gendarme, a pair of soft boots with spurs instead of tights and pumps, and a large fluffy ostrich feather hanging from the brim of the hat , covering almost half of the king's face.

The shouts of the people suddenly went up to a higher level—the king did not sit in the carriage, but appeared in front of the people on horseback. Sure enough, it greatly aroused the people's goodwill towards the king. They shouted: "Long live the king! Long live France!" Almost at the top of their lungs. Excited and passed out.

Duke Philip is also wearing a royal blue coat today. Except for the absence of a crown robe, he is almost the same as the king. Amidst the cheers of the people, he finds that he is not unwilling, and only one moment is better than the other. Hot emotions surged up.

This is his brother, his king!

"Did you see it?" Louis said softly. Although the roar of the crowd was as loud as the tide, Philip still keenly grasped the sound that he could never ignore.

"It's what can make us great, and it's what can destroy us."

Louis said.

This sentence was like a sharp ice pick, which suddenly woke up the Duke of Orleans, who was dazzled by people's support and admiration. In his early years, when he was a young child, he and his elder brother, mother and Mazarin The scene of the bishop escaping from Paris in a hurry was suddenly drawn before him, and he suddenly came to his senses. Yes, what these people are looking forward to is not them, but the victory they promised, and the joy and benefits brought by the victory. Now they can He and Brother Wang raised their glory to the pinnacle, and trampled them into the mud after they failed. They have done this a long time ago, and of course there will be no exception in the future.

"But we must be victorious," said the king.

Afterwards, the king didn't say a single word. He had a gentle smile on his face, but the wounds in the past were inevitably venomous. He would never forget the harm Paris caused to the ten-year-old child in his life.

They left Paris with a welcome, and in the bright sunshine the Duke of Orléans looked back at the city, which had been left behind by the king and his court, slowly disappearing, as if for a sign—they They could have skipped Versailles, but at the king's will they changed their course, and at nightfall they arrived at Versailles.

After arriving in Versailles, the smile on the king's face became real. With comparison, the Duke of Orleans realized how frivolous, boring and useless the clamor of the Parisians was compared to the sincerity of the people of Versailles.

The people of Versailles donated countless food, cloth and all kinds of things they thought the king would need, and the most precious thing they donated was their sons, the king's guards, and the king allowed them to return temporarily. To go home and stay with the family until tomorrow—he didn't know how many of these good boys would come back, though Louie had to admit that he naively hoped to bring them back one by one.

But what they will face is war.