I Am Louis XIV

Louis XIV listened carefully. France's spies were now spread across the country and half of Europe, as well as England and Scotland, as well as parts of the colonies - but these spies, whether they were wizards or not, could not completely penetrate into the country. The Ottoman Turkish Empire, not because they intentionally slacked off, but because the Ottoman Turkish Empire was too special.

First of all, although the Sultan and Grand Vizier of Ottoman Turkey allowed different faiths to exist within the empire, just like Louis XIV implemented different levels of taxation in the newly conquered Flanders and the Netherlands, although Ottoman Turkey was said to be multi-faith Empire, but for those Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants of different faiths, and even some Buddhists, they have always been inferior. Not only do they have to bear heavier taxes than believers who believe in the only true God, they also have to pay the "blood tax" ——That is, handing over their sons to become soldiers of the Sultan. These children left their parents and their homeland at a very young age, and when they came back they were out-and-out Ottoman Turks. In addition to these, they had other issues in law, business behavior, and marriage. On the other hand, each one is lower than the believers of the one true God.

Especially in some big cities that have been ruled by the Ottoman Turks for many years, such as Bosnia, which was once used by Mr. Molière as a grand theater to shamelessly and boldly deceive the envoys of King Leopold I. The city - Mr. Molière said after he came back that almost all the people walking in that city were Turks - no, it should be said that everyone dressed themselves up as much as possible according to their attire, and anyone who went out of line would be punished by countless people. Eyes watching, even so, people with unfamiliar faces, even if they pretend to convert, will be spied on by the Sultan's spies... Most of these people have retired from the Yenicherry Regiment (the Sultan's personal army) Soldiers and officers, they were not allowed to marry in the legion, and they were taught to be loyal to their faith and monarch all day long (speaking of this, Mr. Molière also gave Louis XIV a meaningful look), which made them even after leaving. , they will not abandon their responsibilities.

Therefore, as long as any foreigner appears in an Ottoman Turkish city, everyone he meets, from innkeepers, spice merchants, cafe waiters, and even a person who does camel and horse rental business, is A noose around their necks.

As for witches and the other world, unfortunately, they may have existed there, but the Ottoman Turks’ religious order was much more fierce than the Roman Church. Although the process is not very clear, they may have directly robbed a group of witches. Kill their mothers after they are born. When these children grow up, they naturally become the most fanatical believers and executioners of the cult. With this sharp knife, the Sultan and Grand Vizier of Ottoman Turkey are like a skilled Farmers wielding scythes to harvest wheat, bit by bit drove the wizards out of their territory.

Some people may ask, are there no wizards who use the world as their habitat in the same way? Yes, but as I said before, the faith of the Ottoman Turks absolutely does not allow any fallacy or wavering. They are not like the Roman priests. They only care about whether there are gold coins in the box of indulgences. Continuously expanding religious territory while purging those who are not religious enough - this is quite fatal to wizards.

Just like Gajola Island and the Sun Islands, wizards will actually have contact with the outside world. A Catholic, a Protestant, or any other believer will hesitate when they see tangible benefits and pretend not to see them. To see, not to hear, but not to the believers of the true God.

The inner world is not an extra space. It really exists in the surface world, but it is very remote and unknown. At the same time, it brews strange powers, prompting the formation of magical creatures, and is more suitable for wizards to survive. They are often a deep path. A canyon, a lonely island, a dense jungle, a mist-shrouded swamp... But if someone is suspicious, determined, and has enough manpower to investigate, they can still find something wrong from the map and calculations.

The problem is that it will be difficult for wizards to operate in the territory of the Ottoman Turks. Apart from the issue of faith, they are as conspicuous as ink spilled on white paper. But what surprised Louis XIV was that Amon told him that although the Ottoman Turks could not tolerate wizards, they could tolerate vampires and some magical creatures. Although they were all classified as devils, sometimes there were also depraved ones. Believers are willing to make deals with them.

There was a vampire clan wandering in Arabia. Amon called them Assamai. These Assamai wandered in the darkness and hot sand, doing business as mercenaries and assassins. He also asked Louis XIV if he was interested. Louis refused to bribe these vampires without thinking. It was only after he came into contact with the two princes Theodric of Vanzhuo and Amon of Zmich, and read a large number of wizards' books, that he learned that the Vampires valued their ancestral land very much - generally speaking, the ancestors of the Vampires The earth is where the second or third generation vampires were born. They may even have been kings and lords. During an extremely long period of time for the vampires, they carefully managed their territories, cultivated successors, established armies, and even held events. They were also there to judge and execute those vampires they thought might cause harm to the clan.

The Tsimixi were a very powerful clan among the thirteen clans, but they had an unfortunate fate. They were the first blood clan to lose their ancestral land due to the change of human power and the change of territory. This made Ah, who was already a little crazy, Prince Meng became more careless in doing things. At the same time, the Gangro family from Scandinavia was also embarrassed - this situation was not without a solution for them, that is, a family Completely destroy another clan, and then rule two territories.

But Gangro dared not face Zmich...

Well, let’s put these aside. The main reason is that Assamai has been wandering in the Arabian region. When the Ottoman Empire was at its largest, it had four core areas-the Nile River Basin, the Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula. Here are the The Persian Empire, the Alexander Empire, the Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Arab Empire - and the Ottoman Turkish Empire were born, so Arabia was only a part of the Ottoman Empire. What price would he have to pay to make this group of vampires give up their territory?

Moreover, the "devils" could not enter the Sultan's palace, and even the capital was difficult to enter. They could not provide any valuable intelligence.

Most of the information Louis XIV had about the Ottoman Turks came from merchants. Although the Venetians and the British had been secretly colluding with the Ottoman Turks, when it came to close relations, they could not compare with France for the time being. Moreover, after Louis took over, wine, spices, potatoes, chocolate, coffee, powder, glass, porcelain, colorful clothing materials and new-cut gems were continuously sent to Istanbul. The white and black people of Sudan The general manager is the biggest buyer. Although everyone knows that these businessmen often wear two hats, French businessmen can always come up with new and good things.

But it is difficult to find out any real secrets. "I only know that Mohammed IV still has no pro-government so far," Louis said a little helplessly: "His father Ibrahim I is said to be an arrogant person." Madman, so Mohammed IV was forcibly deposed when he was six years old. The current Queen Mother, who is a Venetian woman, promoted someone from Copruli to be the Grand Vizier." This is also why the Ottoman Turks Although they captured Crete from the Venetians in 69 AD, the Venetians still held on to a glimmer of hope. After all, for the previous three hundred years, the Ottoman Empire was under the control of the Queen Mother. Perhaps they thought that this The Venetian woman, the mother of Mohammed IV, would also become a female sultan.

It is a pity that this lady is destined not to become the second Hürrem (Note 1). Although Copruli was promoted by her, from the beginning, she unceremoniously asked her for four major privileges, one: administrative power. No interference; 2: Has the power to appoint and remove personnel; 3: All memorials must be reviewed by him; 4: Requires complete trust and cannot question him. These four requirements are almost to completely separate the Sultan and his mother. If it were placed in the period of Suleiman I or even Hürrem Sultan, he would only need to finish the first one, and there would be no need to strain his tongue for the rest. Because the Sultan would immediately order the eunuch waiting beside him to hang him with a longbow.

But what is staggering is that the mother of Mohammed IV actually agreed. Of course, not everyone was willing to believe the Grand Vizier, so he ruled for five years and executed 35,000 people. Four thousand of them were dignitaries. What is the concept? At that time, there were only three hundred officials handling political affairs in the Ottoman Turkish court. His swordsmen made the people in the Parliament Hall of Topkapi Palace Members rotated at least ten times or more over five years.

With such cruel methods, the Grand Vizier firmly established himself as the uncrowned king. He was not a person with only a cruel nature and no outstanding talents. During the years he ruled this huge empire, He reorganized the navy of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, lifted the Venetian blockade of Istanbul, and recaptured two important islands; he sent troops to suppress the rebels in Asia Minor; he pushed the empire's borders to the Don River and the Volga River. ——Directly confront Russia; the other option is to capture Romania again and restore rule there.

If the Ottoman Empire, under the control of Ibrahim I, was like a carriage that was dragged by a crazy horse and could fall apart at any time, then Coprulli was the one who slowed down the carriage. Of course , and at the same time, he also raised the weapons in his hands, letting people see that the Ottoman Empire still had sharp teeth. He died in 61 years and handed over his position and power to his son.

"Do you know what he said to Mohammed IV before he died?" Louis said: "It's still four things, never listen to women, never let ministers become rich, always ensure that the treasury is full, and never let The army is idle.”

Ludwig I was stunned for a moment, "It seems that Mohammed IV has indeed achieved it, at least he must have achieved the last one." He tasted it: "No wonder you would say that he is as good as Bishop Richelieu. character."

"And his son, Ahmed," Louis added, "also inherited his father's ideas and thoughts. This war is the most conclusive proof."

"How terrible," said Ludwig I, "just for the will of one person, or two people."

"That's why people chase power," Louis said, "at all costs."

It was difficult for Ludwig I to be sure whether Louis meant anything. He shook his head. If Louis XIV was such a person, he would still be Prince Condé now, or even worse - just a puppet, just like before. King of Poland, "Then let me speak next," he stood up: "Most of my intelligence comes from the military aspect. Your Majesty, this time we may have to face 250,000 enemies."

"That sounds terrible," Louis replied. "Tell me about it."

"The first is the Yenicheri Legion you just mentioned, but it includes soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. In addition, in this war, the Sultan and the Grand Vizier allowed all Ottomans to join the army, so the total number reached 170,000. Including Sipach cavalry, but also a large number of Azap (infantry); their vassals, the Kurds of Asia Minor-Anatolia, the Rumelians of the Balkans, Transylvania, Moldavia Servant armies in Asia and Wallachia (Romania), as well as Crimean Tatars serving the Sultan, and Hungarian Protestants. They may also have countless muskets, artillery and ammunition from the special Upper Hungary occupied by the Archduke of Transylvania, all the way down to Transylvania, was their territory from which they could obtain supplies without having to carry too much baggage.”

"What about us?"

"You have thirty thousand people here," said Ludwig I. "I have about fifteen thousand people here, as well as Austrians, Danes and Norwegians, Spanish and Portuguese people, and Swiss... Our general The number can reach about 150,000, but Your Majesty, there is a problem here."

He stood up and walked to the window: "Please look outside."

Note 1: Roxelana (1506-April 15, 1558), known as Hürrem (meaning "the happy one") in Turkish and Karima (meaning "noble one") in Arabic "), Queen Sultan Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. Because he was politically powerful, he was called Hürrem Sultan in the history of the Ottoman Empire.