I Am Louis XIV

"Potatoes yield six thousand pounds to the acre," said the Irishman. "Ma'am, wheat only yields a thousand pounds."

What surprised the Marquess of Lafayette was that these two red-haired Celts were not poor people as people thought. They were rare. After England invaded Ireland, they still relied on their noble blood. One of the families with a distinguished surname that continues to keep its own manor and farmland. "But please allow me not to mention that glorious surname here again," the Irishman said: "We have really shamed our ancestors." He. He looked at the Marquise and said, "It's not because of being a servant. Your son is a good man and a loyal knight. We are loyal to him without any shame or hesitation."

He showed a painful look: "I feel sad, madam, because I have to abandon my people and my territory."

"Ah, yes." The Marquise murmured. She should have guessed that poor people would not have such a tall figure. Such a tall body as a warrior cannot be raised without enough wheat, meat and butterfat. , "You must have suffered a very terrible disaster."

"It didn't happen overnight." The Irishman said: "The English do not recognize my title because it was obtained from the King of Ireland."

"Is it William Wallace?"

"Yes, the English refuse to recognize him as a king, but in our hearts," the Irishman gestured, "he will always be our king, our chief." He continued: "In my great-grandfather's time , the English made up many charges, imprisoned him, and forced him to use his property to atone for his crimes. Even so, when I took over the property from my father, we still had about 530 acres of land, and It's the kind of good farmland, and the Irish are willing to come and share my land because I won't exploit them as cruelly as the English."

"There are always people who want to take what little land I have, and I try my best, ma'am, but I support the rebels and I need more food. Potatoes produce six times more than wheat, and the English don't like potatoes. , they wouldn’t come and take away the potatoes, so – I planted potatoes on all my land and only a very small piece for wheat.”

"Potato disease actually started six or seven years ago. I remember it very clearly, but at that time only a few fields were affected. I sent samples to the universities of London and Edinburgh to ask scholars how the disease originated. .” When the Irishman said this, he showed a sarcastic smile: “They told me that this was caused by too much water in the fields or the soil being too hot. It was just an occasional phenomenon, so I don’t need to worry unfoundedly.”

"Then, one summer," he raised his head and looked at the ceiling, as if he was back to that day again: "A group of farmers came to me and told me that their potatoes were moldy on both branches, leaves and stems. I I hurried to take a look, and after looking at them, I pulled them all up. As a result, I saw that the potatoes in the ground were also moldy. I knew it was bad at that time, so I immediately set up a fire and burned them all. The potatoes next to me were not spared either. But if I did this, other people’s potatoes would die in large areas and spread the plague everywhere, and my field would not be spared either.”

"I sent letters of appeal to London and Edinburgh. At that time, I thought, whether it was Charles II or James II, as long as there was one of them who was willing to favor us, I would be willing to bow my knees to him. , sincerely, but no matter who it was, my appeal was in vain." He paused: "I even went to London in person. Not only did I not see Charles II, but I was also imprisoned. After that, someone asked me Use the only land I have to redeem my life and freedom."

"Of course I am reluctant, but madam, if I die in London, my wife, children and friends, my tenants, they will no longer have a reliable person, they will be eaten up immediately , I can only give up my farmland and fulfill the wishes of those people." He breathed lightly: "My buyer is still a somewhat compassionate person, and it may be because he offered an excessively low price. I got a large piece of land and was in a good mood, just like a friend, and advised me to leave London as soon as possible. As for my original prayer-not to mention whether it would reach the ears of Charles II, nor whether he would be willing. The ministers and nobles surrounding him would not be willing to care about a poor man and an Irishman, and they wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to take away the remaining land in the hands of the Irish."

"Why are they doing this?" the Marchioness asked incomprehensibly. France also has many colonies, such as the Netherlands, Flanders and Alsace, America, and Spain. Louis XIV was among these Local governments implemented staged taxes, labor and different laws, but even the most unruly Netherlands would not stand idly by and take advantage of such a natural disaster if it suffered.

"This is the difference between His Majesty and Charles II." The Irishman took the opportunity to compliment: "I was too naive, madam, but at the time I had the same idea as you - at least let people live, our What a humble request, but we should have known earlier. When the phenomenon of 'sheep eating people' occurs, look at how they treat the poor. Yes, maybe just one shilling can save a life. , and those gentlemen and ladies can save hundreds of ruined families just by wearing one less lace ribbon." At this point, his voice suddenly became louder: "But madam, why do they do this? Poor people. , the Irish are fundamentally different creatures from them, no, I should say, not only are they different, but they are as disgusting as mice and cockroaches, wouldn’t it be better if some of them died?”

At this time, his eyes were filled with tears: "Ah, madam, I hurried back to Ireland, my home. When I left, although there were people who died of hunger, those people were all The officials also promised me that food would be distributed to the elderly and children, but as soon as I set foot on land, I saw burned and abandoned villages, heavily guarded cities, and people lying everywhere on the roads. The corpses - they just lay there while the wild dogs feasted.

I rushed home like crazy, and I met several groups of bandits on the way. They wanted everything, money, food and water, even your body. Fortunately, I still got some funding when I was in London. With full strength, he killed them all.

When I returned home, my youngest daughter was dead, and I had several relatives. By the way, didn’t I mention that I had planted some wheat? They were all forcibly taken away by the local officials and my wife. He could only live with his tenants and servants on potatoes that were not yet completely moldy - but how much could that be? Madam, I don’t know how long it took. We ate weeds, wood chips, and dirt. My eldest son ate poisonous nettles and died. He died very quietly. I think it must be because there was no moaning or crying. Strength, because I am like that too. "

His tone was extremely calm, but the Marquise couldn't help but feel horrified.

"Just when I was about to die - I even thought about killing my other children and wife while I still had some strength to prevent them from suffering." He raised his eyes, bright and clear: "Suddenly , someone walked in and asked me if I wanted to work in America."

"Ah!" The Marquise patted her knee, as if to shake off the chill: "Yes, he told me."

"Yes, he is your son. He needs some manpower to help him manage his property in the New World. The merchants entrusted by him took away many people, including my family and my brother's family. "

"That way, you don't have to call him your benefactor at all," the Marchioness said softly, "he just hired you."

"Saved me and my family." The Irishman retorted: "Did you see someone hired a servant and took the servant's family away with him?" He shook his head: "He gave us a new five hundred mu."

"The land resources in the New World are very rich."

"But he doesn't have to come to us, he doesn't have to hire us, he can buy some dark-skinned people, just like the British do."

"Our Majesty does not like the slave trade. This is probably the most un-Roman thing about him." said the Marchioness.

"He is like the rising sun, and you are like the moon and stars," the Irishman said. "His brilliance shines on the Irish through you." He stood up and bowed uprightly: "Although I I will not have the honor of meeting His Majesty, but Madam, if you could meet him, please convey to that saint the respect and gratitude of the Irish people."

——————

They probably didn't know that His Majesty the King they were talking about was in disguise, accompanied by Pierre Montesquieu, Count d'Artagnan's cousin, sitting on a chair outside the cafe. In the late autumn sunshine, I watched the people coming and going.

Since the imperial period of ancient Rome, emperors and kings have had the hobby of engraving their own heads on coins, and Louis XIV was no exception. His mint used a steam engine-driven press to create coins. The coins were so clear and beautiful that the outline of the king's face was familiar - who doesn't like money?

This greatly restricted the freedom of His Majesty the King. He wanted to take to the streets today on a whim, and even deliberately pressed a beard for himself. People passing by could not help but look at him, but there was a strange face next to him - -Pierre is not a familiar face to Parisians. Although he often accompanies the king, he is completely different from d'Artagnan. He is taciturn and conservative by nature. He rarely goes to the opera house, let alone the opera house. When it comes to salons or banquets, very few people can recognize him at a glance.

If it had been the Duke of Orleans, Count d'Artagnan, or Jean Bart, the Marquis of Créquy, the most familiar flower masters in Paris, the king would have been recognized at once.

"They must think you are a Russian," Pierre said with a smile.

“Are there many Russians in Paris now?”

"Not much, but your majesty, almost only Russians in Paris now have beards." At first, it was because of the deeds and actions. Later, Parisians, even the entire French people, and Europeans found that people without beards look younger and cleaner, and people with beards look more youthful and clean. Not much. As for why Russians are so stubborn, it is said that they believe beards are a symbol of masculinity.

This beard did hinder many people. Several officers stopped for a long time and then left hesitantly.

"If I must say it, there are quite a few Irish people nowadays." Louis said. The characteristics of the Irish are still very obvious, a bit rough and bold, with broad and flat faces, thick and long eyebrows and apricot-shaped eyes, especially many of them have red hair. This hair color is attributed to Ireland's long-term It could be preserved without foreign invasion—not the English, not the Tartars, nor the Romans.

"There are more Irish people in Montreal," Pierre said easily, and in fact, he should have said that there were many Irish people in the entire New World.

After reaching an "agreement" with the Duke of York, Marshal Schaumberg took a group of enthusiastic young officers to the New World. After they formed allies with the Indians and completely drove the British out, a question posed In front of them - the area of ​​​​the New World is almost comparable to that of Europe. If the number of Indians is counted alone, there may be only 1.5 million people according to rough statistics. And the French immigrants have little interest in leaving their country and home. Fewer, and they lack the motivation to stay - businessmen only want to make money, and soldiers only want to establish meritorious deeds. Louis XIV had to promise them land, so these young soldiers, merchants recognized by the king, and many Indians became big landowners.

So who will grow wheat, corn, tobacco, cotton and potatoes for them? Some French businessmen had no choice but to return to Paris and bribe people around the king, hoping that the king would allow them to continue the slave trade. Louis didn't want to hide it here. Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain and France all engaged in the slave trade, and even Denmark, Sweden and Brandenburg also intervened... But Louis would probably never like this kind of trading.

Just when Louis was considering whether he should move some of the residents of Flanders or Brittany, the Huguenots there first...

The potato plague broke out in Ireland.

Louis didn't want to thank God for this, as there were countless bloody lives behind him, but his reaction was still very fast. He immediately wrote letters to Charles II and James II, and bought Irish for hire for French businessmen. People and concessions into and out of Ireland. These two "His Majesty the King" are in full swing and have to sell their palaces. Of course, they will not refuse this unexpected income.

What's more, they were also worried that if it continued, millions of hungry Irish people would start riots, and they did not have the extra troops to quell them.

Colbert and the merchants thought the king was joking at first... When the latter really got the permit and the fleet sailed into the St. George Strait under the watchful eye of the British fleet - they were all stunned - because Louis XIV had always been very concerned about population. They probably never thought that the leader of a country would sell his people on a per-person basis.

Yes, every Irishman on a per capita basis, they were to give a tenth of their commission to the King of England.