I Am Louis XIV

When the royal family was away from Paris, the Duke of Orleans, who took the opportunity to steal the power, not only strongly demanded the judges of the Supreme Court to grant him the title of acting king, but also recruited about 5,000 soldiers as much as possible. For the civilians in Paris or nearby, prices in Paris have skyrocketed, and terrible plagues and famines have finally appeared among the civilians, but if they can enter the army, at least the minimum food and clothing can be guaranteed, so many people have become judges, bishops or It is the duke's soldiers, who serve them with muskets or spears.

To show the king that the Duke of Orléans, who had declared himself acting king, was nothing less than treason, and it was for this reason that he did not rush into Paris, preferring to do well than to rush back to Paris and be kicked out again, or worse. Fully prepared, he went to inspect the barracks. The soldiers of General Schomberg and Viscount Turenne totaled more than 4,000 soldiers. Then, with the support of the king, they recruited another 2,000 soldiers from the refugees. Now there are six soldiers in total. Thousands of soldiers, and there were muskets and artillery that Fouquet managed to smuggle from Italy and Sicily, and a hundred horses that Colbert not to be outdone, these horses were either Dutch Frisian horses or native French horses. Sierra horses are muscular, with high jumping talent, brave and bold character, and high obedience, that is to say, they are born to be war horses.

For these horses, the Viscount Turenne had a small dispute with General Schomberg, because they both wanted to send these horses to their own troops, and the king had to mediate and sit with them at the table. , played cards for three hours, in the end the Viscount Turenne got twenty horses, General Schomberg got fifteen, and there were sixty-five horses, the king gave the queen three horses, and some Two horses were given to Bishop Mazarin who was far away in Liege, and the other 60 horses were presented by him to the musketeers who had been following him.

This incident made the musketeers very grateful. After all, at this time, whether it is the imperial guards, musketeers, or cavalry, their horses, equipment, and even uniforms need to be equipped with their own money, so Like d'Artagnan, it is commonplace to borrow money from one's lover (of course it is not returned), and those noble ladies are also accustomed to grabbing money from their husband's cabinet with their left hand, Give them to his young lover with his right hand—and among these configurations, the most expensive is the horse. After all, for these fighters, a good horse can not only make them more handsome and attractive, but also show their identity, and Save lives when necessary.

The price of a good horse is around 300 to 500 livres. Of course, if you meet a vain young man, or a luxurious financial backer, the price is far more than this price, but with the horse presented by the king , then these good lads can be equipped with better saddles, powder pouches and better rapiers or more loyal servants, so they are now all loyal to the king and eager to be in Paris. Achieve greater feats in offensive and defensive battles.

But when it comes to the king, he is really not in a hurry. He is more relaxed in Versailles than in Paris. The bishop and he exchange letters almost every day-bishop Mazarin already has a very meticulous and thorough plan. The intelligence network he inherited from Richelieu, and later he expanded and supplemented it. Some people say that in France, even the piers and walls are the eyes and ears of the bishop. Although this sentence is exaggerated, it is also true. Not without reason.

Louis was not in a hurry to establish his own intelligence system - there was no need, Mr. Bishop is not his enemy now, their position is the same, after screening the endless stream of information, from the hands of the bishop to his hands Some people may be dissatisfied with this, but what Louis needs now is the movements of Duke Gaston of Orleans and Prince Condé—to determine what he should do in the future.

Louis learned from Mr. Bishop that not long ago, the fiefdom of the Duke of Gaston, that is, the city of Orleans, asked the Duke of Gaston to return to Orleans from Paris. Already the half master of Paris, secondly, the city council of Orleans intends to force him to remain neutral, lest the city be attacked by the king's army-how could the Duke of Gaston agree, he is now only one step away from the throne, a city It is absolutely impossible for him to back down, but he does not want to give up Orleans, after all, it is his foundation and territory, so Louis' uncle thought of an unbelievable idea, that is to let his eldest daughter, Meng The Duchess of Ponceier went to Orleans through the war-torn France, full of rebellion and mobs, to temporarily take charge and appease the city on his behalf.

What is even more surprising is that the Duchess of Montpensier agreed to this rude and cruel request. God bless, she brought her maids and guards to Orleans, but the people of Orleans were unwilling to admit her at first. , it was her father they were loyal and looking forward to, not a weak woman who was kept out of the city.

"So how did she do it?" asked the Queen Mother.

"You probably can't imagine it," said the king.

After the Duchess of Montpensier was rejected by Orleans, she did not give up easily. When she was outside the city, she heard (probably after many inquiries and bribes) that the gate of the city of Orleans at the Laf Quay (that is, the Loire River) was made of wood. It is very fragile, but this city gate is located more than a hundred feet above the city wall, and there is no place to set up a ladder below, so it is impossible to climb up-but some fishermen said that they can take the duchess in a boat. Send it to the bottom of the city gate, then connect the two fishing boats together, lay wooden boards on it, and build a ladder on the wooden boards, then the Duchess only needs to hold the axe, climb up the ladder, stand on the ladder and smash the city gate with the axe. .

Such a proposal was sharply rejected by the duchess' maids at that time. Not only did they reject it, they also suggested that the duchess should hang these fishermen in the name of trying to murder the nobles of the royal family. It is incredible enough to climb a ladder with an axe, and it is still on a boat, and the Loire River is rushing under the boat. Even a brave knight may not be able to do it-otherwise the city gate would not be made of wood. , let alone their duchess?

But the Duchess of Montpensier surprised everyone. She not only agreed to the plan, but also acted quickly. She wrapped her skirt around her waist, carried an ax on her back, and came to the Under the city wall, with the help of fishermen and attendants, she climbed up the ladder. At that time, countless Orleanians witnessed this feat. Before the Duchess could pull out her axe, the gates of the city were split open by the Orleanians, and she was welcomed in with great grandeur, shouting "Long live the princess", and kneeling down to kiss her hand.

The next day she was dubbed "Daughter of Orleans", a title once belonged to Joan of Arc.

Hearing this, the queen mother's face became even more gloomy, and she almost let out a disdainful laugh regardless of etiquette, and Louis could fully understand his mother. There is nothing wrong with the Duke. She grew up in the Tuileries Palace. The general configuration of a princess (maids, ladies, doctors, nannies, servants and guards) is two hundred people. She is three hundred people. Her guardian The female officer is Mrs. St. Giorgis, who is famous for her gentleness, kindness and noble status. Even the Duchess of Montpensier herself admitted that she has gained a mother's love from this lady.

Not to mention, when her father, the Duke of Gaston, wanted to compete with her for the management of Montpensier, Louis XIII and the queen also stood firmly on her side.

It's a pity that their tolerance failed to earn the gratitude of the Duchess of Montpensier, but there was a lot of hatred.

Louis read the letter again, in which Monsieur the Bishop transcribed a sentence the Duchess said before she climbed the escalator, and she said: Shut up! A bunch of cowards! ...I tell you, this very day I will scale this wall, tear down this gate, and I will rule this city as they begged me!

The bishop deliberately wrote this sentence, obviously to point and remind Louis, and Louis could understand what he meant. They both made a mistake before, which was to rashly mistake the Duchess of Montpensier for an ordinary woman , like most young women, only think about makeup and love - but it turns out that she is not, or, not quite, she desires power like a man.

"So where is she now?" asked the Queen Mother.

"She has returned to Paris." The king said, like a triumphant general, the Duke of Gaston changed his previous attitude towards her and became extremely considerate and gentle, almost printed the words "good father" on his face up.

"Ah bah." The Queen Mother said angrily: "The daughter of a traitor has become a princess in a serious manner, doesn't she feel ashamed?"

The queen mother was very angry, but Louis felt that maybe this was not a bad thing.

He sent a letter to Bishop Mazaran that night.