I Am Louis XIV

Since Mr. Champagne declined the Marquis de Lafayette's help, the Marquis would not insist again. After all, the object of an officer's courtesy would never be a fat old man, although Mr. Champagne was now covered with All kinds of fashionable elements - no worse than any noble lady.

The Marquis said that he was willing to ride his horse slowly on the avenue of sycamores, enjoying the rustling sound of broken leaves, the clean water and the fragrance of camellia, while looking around, he looked around for the first time She was a child when she entered Paris, having come to her from her father (who by that time had separated from her husband) because her mother was in love with the Duchess de Montpensier, in order to find a job at the king's court. future.

He watched Paris change with his own eyes, just like an unfortunate fallen lady being pulled back into the light of day. It became so beautiful, so orderly, full of humanity and love, which you can't see here. Anything that makes you feel pain and sadness, everyone who walks by, whether he is on foot, riding a horse, or riding a carriage, is smiling and cheerful.

And Paris five years ago was different from Paris now. People's spirit has obviously reached a new level. You can even see many fat and fair people like Mr. Champagne, and you can also see brightly colored people. Woolen and silk shoes - Silk shoes have always been exclusive to the nobles because this material wears too easily, but now six or seven out of ten people wear glossy silk shoes.

Originally, he could still see pavements of cobblestones or small stone bricks, but now they have been replaced by gray-white cement roads. Important roads such as Queen's Road are wide enough to accommodate two carriages, two horses, and two teams holding hands. The marquis said this because the king's laws are now so detailed that they teach people how to walk - the gray-white road is divided with copper wires and black stones, fifty feet or one hundred feet. There were marble arrows marking their direction. The buildings on both sides of the street had built light arch bridges about three stories high. People in the buildings could walk on them, cross the roads, or go down to the ground.

The Marquis heard the sound of ringing bells coming from behind him. He looked back and saw that it was a red oak carriage, a four-wheeled carriage of Selamat. He immediately pulled over to the right to make way, and the carriage passed him. At that moment, the gauze curtain on the glass window was pulled up, revealing a charming face. When she found out that this person was the Marquis, the lady who might have danced with the Marquis in the Palace of Versailles smiled and waved her handkerchief. Express thankfulness.

The Marquis bowed in return, and the lady behind the gauze curtain paused. Seeing that he had no intention of continuing to communicate, she drew the gauze curtain again, hiding her beautiful face behind the delicate lace.

If he is willing, he can catch up just now, or ride with this lady, or escort her on horseback. When he gets to her house, he can be invited to have a cup of tea and talk, and the rest will be a matter of course. It happened...but...

He withdrew his thoughts and focused his eyes and attention on the house number. At first, his mother did not understand why he was so stubborn in asking to go to the New World. He wanted to establish meritorious deeds. He could go to Italy, the Netherlands or even Poland, so why should he leave? How about going to such a distant and desolate place? But when he got on the ship, his mother's letters also caught up with him - children's willfulness is often due to their fearlessness - when the Marquis not only received the letters, but also received two or three boxes of luggage, he couldn't help but think of what His Majesty the King once said If so.

Their communication continued after that, although the intervals between each time were very long. The last time my mother wrote, she said that the street they were on was being renovated again, or even completely renovated. Because Paris is originally a basin, it is prone to floods. Although His Majesty the King has previously laid an underground river that looks like an underground river. There are sewer pipes, but residents on the first floor often think they have been moved to Amsterdam by the devil after a heavy rain.

So the houses on this street have been raised as a whole.

The Marquis looked up at the golden house numbers on the black wooden door. This was nothing new. When the Duke of Orleans was in charge of public projects, there were unified regulations on street names and house numbers. In order to be conspicuous, the house numbers were all pure gilded copper. The apartment doors were painted black - the artists protested against this, but of course, no one paid any attention to them.

He looked at the familiar number, even hesitating a little, but soon, the door was opened - the Marquise must have known that he was coming back today, and she looked out through the gap in the window curtain on the second or third floor, and when she saw it was him , he went downstairs early and opened the door for him personally.

The Marquis immediately dismounted and hurried forward. The Marquise shook with his impetuous embrace. "Oh my God," she said, "You smell like a horse!"

He immediately laughed, picked up the Marquise, and spun her around several times amid the exclamations of the maids. She was so dizzy that she finally had to laugh loudly intermittently. Voice.

However, a few minutes later, the Marquis was still held down in the bathtub by the maids. He was lying comfortably. The maids deliberately brought those luxurious furs to the Marquis, causing a burst of degrading screams. ——Although these furs are precious, they are all tanned in the New World. The tanning technology and potions in the New World are still inferior to the workers in Paris and Florence. The smell and leather surface treatment are not satisfactory. The Marquise resisted turning it over and ordered the housekeeper. Take them to a familiar workshop for reworking.

The Marquis looked at the hot water flowing directly from the brass faucet in amazement: "Mom!" he shouted: "Now we can actually take a hot bath at home like the Romans did?"

"It's just a boiler." The Marchioness shouted outside the door: "Didn't I tell you in a letter?"

"I didn't know it was this... wonderful," said the Marquis.

After enjoying the hot water, sesame oil and bath liquid like an ancient Roman nobleman, he shaved again, put on a lace-embellished shirt, tights and silk shoes. He finally looked like a young man in Paris before arriving. In the still very familiar small hall - this small hall may be more comfortable than the Marquise's bedroom, because the lady spends two-thirds of her time here every day.

If a stranger comes here, he will definitely think that this is a study owned by a gentleman, and a knowledgeable gentleman. This room is surrounded by bookshelves from top to bottom, and a long movable ladder is hung at the top. on top of a shelf. Except for a small area of ​​blank space on the desk facing the window, there were various letters and booklets everywhere. The floor was also piled with books. As usual, the Marquis moved a few books and sat down. The maids moved away again. More books can be placed on a small table and refreshments.

It’s not that the Marquis meant to bother them so much. The Marquise has only been able to settle down in this room a long time ago, without being disturbed by auditory hallucinations and hallucinations. The Marquis has only heard of it, and it seems to be related to a certain wizard, and even more involved. He felt something dishonorable, so although he wanted to kill the man himself, he still endured it. However, the Duchess of Montpensier still vaguely hinted to him that the despicable villain had already paid for his sins. paid the due price.

Seeing his mother's hand stretched out, the Marquis immediately reached out and took it.

For a mother and son who had been separated for five years, no matter how much they said, they would never be able to finish. However, when the gift that the Marquis brought to her mother was mentioned, the Marquise suddenly realized that the Marquis came back alone.

"Where is your servant?"

"I missed you, so I left alone." The Marquis did not dare to say how he walked the last one hundred miles day and night. He only said: "They are still behind, probably..." he said vaguely. After a few words, she was still pinched by the Marquise. Although she was not a soldier, she had a son of a soldier, and she was smart enough to guess the reason at once.

The Marquis barked a few times - of course he didn't mind a little finger twisting or two, but this was the attitude a son should have. Then he changed the subject with a smile and told the Marquise what he had done. Horns” about his son’s godfather.

————

The Marquis' servant arrived three days later.

The maids stared at them in surprise for a while. "What's there to be curious about?" said the Marchioness. "Aren't there many Celts in Paris now?"

"But they are too tall." And rude, almost like a piece of unpolished reddish-brown granite, which is intimidating to look at.

"They are all good people," the Marquis said. "Loyal and trustworthy, mother, you must treat them like my friends. They saved my life on the battlefield."

"This is our duty," said the pair of identical red-haired footmen. "You saved our family."

When they were led into the kitchen to eat, "How can you make your benefactor your servant?" asked the Marchioness.

"They were very insistent, and so did their parents and wives - they didn't want to leave my side at all - well, mom, you really don't know how miserable they are."

"How could I not know," said the Marchioness, "that I was writing about the Great Potato Famine in Ireland."

It is said that this was a commission from the Duke of Orleans. He did this in order to take revenge on James II who broke his promise. Yes, it was the Duke of York. He was still fighting against Charles II, but he could not wait to ascend the throne in Edinburgh, Scotland. As soon as he ascended the throne, he condemned King Louis XIV of France for shamelessly seizing the colonies belonging to Great Britain.

Louis XIV only thought this was ridiculous and didn't take it to heart, but the Duke of Orleans was the kind of guy who was determined to take revenge. His revenge always came as fast and violent as a storm, and his battlefields were not limited to the sea, ports or the New World. .

"Then you can ask them. I probably won't be able to repeat this matter to you. Alas, mother, if I didn't know that you have a pair of wonderful hands, I wouldn't want you to hear such a tragic thing."

After hearing this, the Marquise couldn't help but feel a little pity. "Let them have a good rest for a few days," she said, "You can help me first and ask them if they are willing to talk to me." Let a suffering person re-open. Reciting the punishment he had received was like cutting on a scar. It was a cruel thing, but the Marquise had never personally come into contact with the victim in this matter. Although there were many Irish people in Paris, they were usually handymen, servants or soldiers. The Marchioness's hasty contact with them would only frighten them.

Even the two servants of the Marquis had to persuade the housekeeper and male servants for a long time before they dared to sit in front of the lady.

——The Great Famine occurred in Ireland four years ago.

Just when James II, Duke of York, and Charles II were fighting fiercely, a germ that would make potatoes rot underground spread quietly in the dark.

We all know that it was none other than Louis XIV who first introduced potatoes, a high-yielding crop, to Europe. When the people discovered that this crop did not pick the soil, did not care about drought, and could grow hundreds or thousands of pounds as long as there was enough fertility, they immediately pursued this lady from the New World as Louis XIV expected. , it can be said that Tudou played an indispensable role in calming down the turmoil within France.

When the French no longer needed to rely on potatoes to sustain their lives, this crop also flowed to the outside world - it was not a secret in the first place. They saved the lives of countless poor people and allowed countless people to regard them as God's. Gift, but things in the world always seem to have two sides, one is heaven and the other is hell, and potatoes are no exception.

Potatoes can be deadly when green, and when they become diseased, as humans do, the disease can spread incredibly quickly.

The former can be guarded against, but the latter cannot be easily detected, let alone contained.

In 1542, Henry VIII became King of Ireland. Although the Irish resisted numerous times, they never succeeded.

Just like Flanders, Brittany or any other colony, Ireland, this once vibrant green island, eventually had to become the British money bag and blood bag. In the "sheep eat people" "When the trend gradually spread to Ireland, the British would not have any sympathy for these red-haired Celts.

At that time, almost all the land in Ireland had been annexed, engulfed or occupied by the British in various ways. The Irish could only be reduced to tenant farmers. As tenant farmers, their allotment was only a relatively small piece of land. When the British allowed them to grow wheat At that time, they could barely survive. When the British pulled out the wheat and began to plant yew grass, could they still eat grass?

In order to maximize their food supply, almost all Irish people stopped growing wheat and instead grew potatoes, a crop that kept them alive.

One more thing:

Some readers asked whether "Nero" was no longer written. It was written, but because of my Nero, the protagonist is still an "emperor" - well, I understand, because some readers said that my Nero Fourteen is so "king".

Because a lot of things have happened recently, when I was saving the manuscript for writing Nero, I found that I couldn't continue to follow the original outline, so I put the writing aside and waited until the emotions subsided before writing.

But I will still mention it when the new article is over, so don’t worry.