I Am Louis XIV

Viscount Turenne later served as the governor of the three provinces of New West in France for 25 years. He was in his eighties and was called by the king when he was very old. He returned to Paris. During these 20 years, Not to mention the Dutch, except for France, the envoys of almost all countries have persuaded him to lead these three provinces to become independent from France. He is a descendant of Orange, but the Netherlands does not strictly implement it. The primogeniture system, that is to say, after all male heirs die, female descendants can inherit the territory and title of Orange. If Viscount Turenne is willing, not to mention his three existing provinces, even Orange's William III's Utrecht was also willing to honor him as King of the Netherlands, but the Viscount Turenne never wavered a bit.

Later, when he returned to Paris, when he saw the king who had become calmer and wiser in the past twenty years, but not old and feeble, he suddenly understood, as early as twenty-five years ago, the night before they conquered Amsterdam, he understood Well... the king is just a crazy and bold gambler. He doesn't even think about that if his offensive in Holland is frustrated, the loan from merchants in the name of the royal family will immediately become a mountain on his back. The best The situation is that, from the king down, all French people will suffer because of this defeat; the worst case is that once the people of France cannot bear the pain, they will pour all their anger on the king, Louis Maybe he will become another Charles I, who will repay the people's hope for him with his head and blood.

On the other hand, as long as Louis XIV can completely conquer Flanders and Holland, the wealth plundered from these two sheep with golden fleeces will not only repay the loan, but also make everyone happy. The French have benefited from it, just like the Spaniards and the British in the past. These two countries can be said to have gradually become stronger by drawing the blood of the Low Countries. After the independence of the Netherlands, Amsterdam became the financial and economic center of the world. Merchants took bonds and bills from the Dutch stock exchange, but left gold and silver in the vault of the Bank of Amsterdam—once the king's army broke through After leaving Amsterdam, these are all spoils of war. The spoils of war do not need to be returned or publicized. They will all become the most solid cornerstone under the throne of Louis XIV.

From that moment on, Viscount Turenne deeply understood how the king was determined to win the Netherlands. As the first gem inlaid on the scepter, the Netherlands played an extremely important role in the economy and military of Louis XIV. , in the political sense, it is no small matter. How could Louis easily abandon such an area?

Twenty-five years ago, when France was just a "newcomer" slowly recovering from internal and external troubles, his king dared to launch a national war. Twenty-five years later, France has become a When a huge empire capable of defending a long coastline, a vast territory, and countless colonies at the same time, someone imagined the independence of the Netherlands?

Thinking of this, Viscount Turenne would laugh out loud, even breaking one of his ribs, no, he would never betray his king! Betrayed his country!

He will return to Paris and spend the rest of his life quietly in the mansion bestowed by the king, or in the suite of the Palace of Versailles. After his death, he will rest in peace with his best friends, colleagues and relatives. Cathedral of St. Denis.

—————

Louis did not expect that his actions would cast such a deep shadow on the Viscount Turenne. There are not a few kings who borrowed from merchants because of wars in history, even if only in the history of France—Philip I, Louis VII , Louis IX (also known as St. Louis), and Philip II borrowed money from merchants because of the Crusades. In 1494, Charles VIII borrowed money from the Genoese because of the invasion of Italy. The interest on the loan reached 100%. One hundred (annual interest rate), when Duke Charles of Burgundy wanted to be independent, King Louis of France also borrowed money from bankers, consolidated allies, and bought enemies—but mortgaged the palace, which was second only to the Louvre. Louis XIV was the first at Fontainebleau Palace.

As Louis said to Viscount Turenne, there was nothing he could do. Generally speaking, merchants borrow from the king, and the collateral they ask for is usually the country's taxes, monopoly on waterways, military supplies or bulk items, or Export rights, colonial management rights, mineral mining rights, currency casting rights, etc., many plutocrats in Italy suddenly prospered in this way, but it was impossible for Louis to give up military supplies, and he was unwilling to let businessmen control French taxes (the previous stone throwing This is why the party movement started), he is even more unwilling to give up the right to mine mining and the right to cast currency, so there are too few things he can mortgage-but Fontainebleau can, once he hears that the king is willing to mortgage Fontainebleau, these merchants suddenly became generous, no, Fontainebleau does not mean much to the merchants, but even if Louis was beheaded by the people like Charles I, the king and government after him would not Would stop at nothing to buy it back...

But now it seems that Louis' head can stay on his neck for decades, and Fontainebleau was only briefly held by the businessman in the contract. There is only time to worry about the battle in Amsterdam—— Even if the Dutch gathered the remaining land troops, that is, more than 8,000 people, in Amsterdam, they could not resist the French king's muskets and artillery. Even their last card - destroying the sea dam and making Amsterdam a Wang Yang's plot to stop the French from invading, and perhaps even crush the French army, has been leaked by a naive and ignorant, no, it should be said, an arrogant woman to the king's envoy, Lalo Duke of Sfuko.

"Buntang," he called.

Bontang appeared immediately, "Your Majesty, what's the matter?"

"Go ask Madame La Vallière to my bedroom," said the king, and Bontang took the order, and Madame La Vallière opened the door a few minutes later and came in. She was the first few The genius was summoned to Naarden by Louis. As soon as she came, as the first wife of the royal family, she had the room closest to the king, but she didn't have any joy on her face. She had followed the king for so many years, and they were the closest Her behavior was nothing more than lying on the same bed, she didn't know who to hate, the gentle but cruel king, or the despicable Marie Mancini, or herself who was waiting hard with a glimmer of hope .

"Sit down, Louise," said the King. After a moment of silence, Louis suddenly asked: "At that time, what did those Bohemian witches promise you?"

Mrs. La Vallière trembled slightly. Fortunately, she was sitting on a chair at this time and did not hold a wine glass in her hand, so she did not lose her composure—she thought that she was just... At least compared to Marie Mancini's Presumptuously, she just slightly used her privilege as the royal wife, or she thought that the king still had a little affection for herself... It was just a small mistake, she thought so, until the king came from Buddha Randall is back, and the Order of Bohemian Witches has no survivors to follow...

She couldn't sit still anymore, she slipped from the chair and knelt at the king's feet, hanging her neck. Madame La Vallière has always been criticized by the court for her too tough and neutral face, but she has Delicate and white slender neck, some small curly hair scattered on the back of her neck, making her reveal a bit of rare frailty.

"Say it, you know me, Louise."

"They..." Louise said dryly. She knew that the king might forgive others for any sins that seemed unforgivable, but there was only one kind that he would never forgive, and that was lying or concealing things from him. Rarely would someone be executed for lying to him, but after that he would never appear in his presence again: "Give me a child, they promised."

"child?"

"A healthy child, a human child."

"You trust them?"

"If there is another choice. Your Majesty."

… There was another silence. Mrs. Lavallière felt like a criminal waiting to be sentenced.

"Do you know?" said the king, "if they cheat you, or if something goes wrong, you are making me kill my own children." He said softly but cruelly, "You know I love children , from little Lucy, to little Louis, Elizabeth, and every child after me, whether their mother is Mary, or you, or the queen, they are the fruit of my great tree, though I Don't have to suffer for ten months like you guys, but losing either one would make my heart bleed."

"And you, Louise," he said reproachfully, "I could have had a choice, and I let you choose, and I can't give you children, and you don't even want to believe me? I say to you Have you ever lied? Or have you failed to keep your promise?"

"No, you are a kind and good person." Madame La Vallière said dully. Many people in the court were jealous of her, not only because she got a title from the king and a fief, she The relatives of the royal family also got official positions and jobs. What's more, in the ten years after the king took office, she was the only woman who was favored by the king. Although there is usually only one royal wife, the female family members of the entire court are eager To be able to get the love of the king.

Even her father, Crelan, often blamed Louise for her greed. They were not werewolves in France, but outsiders who had to migrate here from Serbia. Louis XIV, as an ordinary king, treated them His attitude can already be called lenient and benevolent, let’s not talk about anything else, just think about Charles II—but after so long, Mrs. La Vallière also noticed that she wanted to have children for the king, it is better to What she said was for the sake of her clan, but out of the jealousy in her heart, towards the queen, towards Mary, and even towards her former master, Princess Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans.

The king didn't go on talking, he turned his head and looked out of the window, the sun was shining brightly outside, but his heart was as cold as a stone in the winter: "Well then," he said, "I'm willing to give you this chance, even if it turns out It might break my heart," he didn't look at Madame La Vallière's face suddenly raised, "but on the contrary, you have to complete the work I entrusted to you——Louise, first of all, I want to say , this job is not difficult for you, but morally and emotionally, and even for the future existence of your ethnic group, it will be a huge and irreparable mistake-you may be in the next few decades, Until death, immersed in endless regret...and I can't even give you much time to think."

"Please tell me...Your Majesty."

"In order to keep my army out of the city, the people of Amsterdam made a terrible decision, that is, when my army entered Amsterdam, they destroyed the sea barrier and let Amsterdam be submerged again. Seasons like this , even in the sun, the temperature of the sea will take the life and the courage of the soldiers," said the king, "but they do not know that I have known this - and now I need you and your people to destroy this plot. "

"His Majesty……"

"It seems that you have also thought of it. Yes, even with gunpowder, it is not so easy to destroy the dam. Thousands of people will gather on the dam. They are just ignorant civilians. There are only legends about them in the world. Here, according to the laws of the other world, werewolves, vampires or wizards can hunt them, but they cannot present the other world so nakedly in front of them—you will be exposed to countless pairs of eyes, and you will have nothing to hide. "The king said: "It is impossible for me to execute my soldiers for you, and it is impossible to cover so many eyes. From that day on, you must disappear or die. The secret refuge of the French crown until the death of the last werewolf."

"Asylum or captivity?" Madame La Vallière asked tremblingly.

"It seems that you have also understood," the king said with a sigh, "Madame."

"Why don't you let the wizard do this?" Madame La Vallière asked again angrily, her pupils shrinking into a straight line under the sun: "Just because you love Mary more, and her child?"

The king didn't show what she meant by what she said, on the contrary, he gave Madame La Vallière a reproachful look: "No, you guessed wrong, I can tell you, Louise, why is it a werewolf, Instead of wizards," he softly said the final sentence: "Of course it's because wizards are more useful than you."

He didn't even bother to lie to himself. After realizing this fact, Mrs. La Vallière froze and couldn't even make a sound.

"But if you and I had a normal human child," said Louis, "he would be legally recognized by me, and his last name would be Bourbon, and he would be born Monsieur duke, owning a domain, Flanders Or in royal territories other than France, he will have a prominent marriage, his wife is not a princess but also a princess, and his children will inherit the glory of the Sun King from generation to generation, and openly call me ancestor until the bloodline is cut off."

He lowered his head, "This will be a big gamble for you and me, madam."