I Am Louis XIV

In addition to Condé, the big winners in this gamble were the Duke of Luxembourg and the Duchess of Bouillon. It is said that she was so worried that she almost fell down and died in Bordeaux, but with the king's clear instructions, no matter what The judgments of both the Inquisition and the High Court came quickly. Father Lesage, his accomplice Lavoisin, and the reckless Bonnard did not even return to Paris, but were executed directly in Bordeaux. For this reason, Elario went to Bordeaux and crossed paths with Barras, his former boss and mentor.

After passing through several cities in a row, Barras realized that the preferential treatment he received in Marseille was not the best. It could even be said that it did not meet the standards for a papal envoy. With or without him, they were all neat, wealthy and wealthy. The order was not the gorgeous veneer specially shown to them - he was keenly aware that although France was still a Catholic country, the Pope's influence had been reduced to its lowest point.

For example, the mayor of Marseille will admit that he is not qualified to make the whole city work for him; for example, the Baron of Priva can pass on difficult cases to him, a papal envoy, without any scruples; or for example, , the Huguenots who traveled half of France with him, he asked the officials and officers who escorted them half puzzled and half questioning - he meant that if these were unwilling to convert, they would not Pagans who are willing to die or even want to escape, so why don't they simply kill these hateful prisoners?

The answers of these people were different. Some said that they would obey the king's will, some said that these Huguenots would work for France in Orleans, and some said that their faith was protected by the Edict of Nantes. , and the latest restriction on movement issued by Louis XIV, those who violate it will not die.

These three answers may seem similar, but they are different. The first type is the people Barras sees most, they are ignorant and blindly obedient, but what they blindly follow here is not the church but the king; the second type is because of interests; The third type of people are the ones the church hates the most - they can think and have enough sense to avoid falling into unnecessary fanaticism.

But no matter which one it is, from the perspective of any red prince in Rome, it is more abominable than heresy. There is no one who keeps saying that he is the most devout believer in God and the most loyal warrior of the church, while always thinking about it. Replacing the church was an even more sinful thing - especially when Barras saw... that even the poorest peasants could live like a lord, he became very jealous.

This idea is not surprising, because when a person sacrifices many precious things just to be able to jump to another high branch, many years later, when he looks back, he finds that the branch he abandoned has become stronger and stronger. When it is plump, vicious juice will breed. After all, no one wants all their efforts to be in vain, or even the opposite. This is human nature and is understandable.

It's just that the reality will not change because of Barras' curse. Along the way, he sees what people can see in a prosperous new world, as if he has left not twenty years, but... For two hundred years, even approaching Paris, he could not recognize the city in which he had spent so many years in vain - it was like a crown surrounded by green velvet, crowned by the white marble doors that rose on each avenue. Every avenue runs through the city of Paris. Of course, people are most interested in passing through the Porte Queen because it connects to the Boulevard Queen, which connects the Louvre to the Place de la Bastille.

As Barras's carriage drove forward, Barras seemed to feel that he had returned to Rome, because Rome had built small three- to four-story buildings along the streets a long time ago. They were uniform in form, similar in style, and flat. The roads are crowded with people, and the glass showcases - please note that this is not yet a market, but there are already many restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry and antique shops, wig and barber shops, etc... who came to greet his emissary. It is not without pride to say that after the king rebuilt Paris, he believed that it was unreasonable to open markets in only a few places. When the number of visitors in Paris increased day by day, clustering shops together would not only increase the number of markets in vain. The pressure of a large region will also cause many negative accidents and accidents, so he issued a special decree that in Paris, Versailles and several nearby cities, people are not restricted by neighborhoods and industries, and people can choose what they like. place to do business.

But the emergence of such demand can only mean one thing, and that is that the purchasing power of the French people is growing rapidly. Otherwise, even in Paris, there would not be such a situation where shops are everywhere - Why did Paris have fixed markets in the past? It's because one or two markets can meet the needs of all Parisians. Now, several times or even dozens of similar markets appear in front of Barras like mushrooms after the rain, and each one Customers were coming in and out of the shops, the restaurants were overcrowded, and even the street vendors were almost overwhelmed.

Even if Barras had no financial talent, he knew that France was entering a virtuous cycle - when Louis XIV brazenly launched a war against Flanders and the Netherlands, few people were optimistic about him, and war was the most costly. In terms of money, people believe that even if the young king can win several victories and occupy several cities, he will eventually go bankrupt due to military expenditures like a bottomless abyss. This situation is not uncommon in history. For many kings, it took generations to pay off their debts to their bankers with minerals and taxes.

Moreover, Barras also heard that Louis XIV actually mortgaged Fontainebleau to support the war against the Netherlands. He only had to mortgage the Louvre. At that time, Barras and the Roman priests had the same idea. They only needed to mortgage the Louvre. Just wait quietly for Louis XIV to hang himself. Who would have known that Louis XIV would actually shoulder such shackles, and go all the way forward, with unparalleled luck and courage, taking off Flanders one after another? What about these two shining gems, Seoul and the Netherlands.

Thinking that even Leopold I was waiting for France to collapse on its own - Barras smiled bitterly. If Leopold I knew that he had fallen into such an embarrassing situation, even if he ignored Transylvania He must also be the first to take the threat from the Grand Duke and the Ottoman Turks and strangle the Sun King in his infancy.

But who in this world can predict, not even he. Barras came to Paris because the king had returned to Versailles. He decided to stay here for a few days before requesting an audience with His Majesty the King. He I don’t know if this is because he is hesitating, like a criminal who is unwilling to face his victim, or like a sad loser who is forced to kneel to the person he once despised...

He went to the Saint-Eustine Church, which was the seat of the Paris Inquisition. Barras was its owner when he left, and he was a guest when he came back. He was surprised to find that the priests and monks who came in and out of the place were There were no longer a few familiar faces, and Elario must have "cleaned" the place after he left - he walked into the church with mixed feelings, and then walked out without interest.

People noticed a black priest wearing a purple belt (unique to bishops) walking on the street, and couldn't help but cast curious glances. However, they almost all had their own things to do, and they only looked at it a few more times. That's all, but Barras saw more than others. He found that there were more women walking on the streets of Paris than elsewhere. They were not all prostitutes as people thought - prostitutes were not like them. With firm steps and sharp eyes, Barras also saw several witches-really witches! They were not dressed in strange shapes, crazy or disheveled, they only wore maid aprons over their beautiful skirts.

But what kind of person would have a few witches as servants?

Barras endured for a long time before asking a priest who was passing by. The priest first glanced at his bishop's robe, saluted, and then said: "Sir," he said respectfully, "those ladies you saw. , all nurses from the King’s Hospital.”

"The King's Hospital?" Barras asked, "The King's Hospital?"

This question made the priest look embarrassed. Of course, theoretically speaking, his soul belonged to the church but his body belonged to the king to the letter. But for a... bishop who should not be French, This behavior is close to transgression.

The concept of hospitals appeared very early. As early as the ancient Roman period, people knew that they should go to temples to pray for pharmacies and herbal medicines. But at that time, most temples would only serve elders and soldiers. But since the rise of Christianity, believers have often brought patients who share their beliefs back home for treatment—most of them have been hunted and tortured because of their beliefs. At that time, the homes of these believers were called "shelters."

After Christianity was recognized as legal by Emperor Constantine in 313, there were more and more such asylums. They shouldered many responsibilities, including caring for and treating the sick, as well as housing the homeless poor, or It was a pilgrimage for believers. Slowly, their name changed from a shelter to an almshouse, and gradually they became mainly for housing the poor rather than simply treating them.

It was not until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the term "hospital" began to appear in these places, but in England they were still called "Houses of God", and in Germany they were called "Houses of the Holy Spirit". But in France, how come they became the "House of Kings"?

Barras is the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition, with a thirty-year law enforcement career. Guess how many people he has seen and tried who practice witchcraft or black mass because of fear of illness and death? He knew only too well how fragile people's spirits would be when they were weak and in pain, and how easily they could be controlled by others - when those people recovered in the "King's Hospital", they would thank God for giving them a good life. Pope, or thank God for giving them a good king?

Louis XIV wanted to completely eliminate the influence of the church in France.

He can understand Clement X now. He is over eighty years old. Should he still watch the Roman Church completely lose their glory in France and watch France have an extra "King of the Patriarch"?

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A carriage passed in front of Barras. Barras's bishop's robes and his strange expression of gritted teeth caused the people in the carriage to look back frequently. It was not until the carriage turned the corner that the man turned back and rubbed the handle of his cane. He said thoughtfully: "That Mr. Bishop looks a little strange."

"Probably from the provinces," replied the Brandenburg-Prussian envoy opposite him, but he did not care who his young master saw: "Your Highness," he said, "I seem to have said that at Versailles , only Louis XIV could hold a long staff."

"I will remember to leave it in the carriage." Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, the eldest son of the Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia, reluctantly put down the cane set with a huge sapphire. Since the Sun King's fame spread from Paris to the whole of Europe, his hobbies and habits have been quickly imitated - just like when Spain was a powerful sea giant, the palaces everywhere were dark, and now France Just like flowers blooming on a brocade, people can’t wait to dress up and enjoy them.

For a young man like Frederick, he would of course be more inclined to the new fashions of Paris and Versailles. Who doesn't like brilliant colors, silky fabrics and sparkling gems? He even spent a lot of money to buy this cane from the Sun King's royal craftsman to imitate the one that Louis XIV often held in his hand.

Even without this provision, he would not have been able to take it to Versailles.

"Although I know I shouldn't," Frederick asked, "but you have met the princess. What do you think of the princess's appearance and temperament?"

The envoy could understand Frederick's mood. In any case, His Highness is at his most youthful and passionate, and he will definitely be curious about his future wife - if everything goes well.

"She is a very respectable lady," the envoy said cautiously: "As for appearance, Your Highness, you should be able to see her soon, but as far as I know, the Bourbon family has An enviable good appearance.”

"But her mother was a Tudor and her grandmother was a Habsburg." Frederick gestured, making a big chin gesture: "I'm really worried... you know, even if it's a Habsburg Princesses, people also say that their faces have been kissed by angels - I think the angel must have been too hard... to make their faces so concave that they can cook in them."

"This is really a bit mean." The envoy had to say.