I Am Louis XIV

To say that Mr. Montesquieu could be introduced to the king and his grandson by the king's important minister, Count d'Artagnan, was certainly not an ordinary figure.

I don’t know if you still remember, but we said before that the real Count d’Artagnan should be Pierre, the king’s musketeer. He lent his title to his cousin so that he could make a future in Paris. , Later, "Count d'Artagnan" indeed found a place beside Louis XIV. After obtaining the title of count with genuine value, "Count d'Artagnan" returned the title, but the people in Paris still Think of that Count d'Artagnan as Count d'Artagnan, not as the one far away in d'Artagnan's domain.

Pierre's surname is Montesquieu, and Montesquieu, the lord of D'Artagnan, is a branch of the family of Mr. Montesquieu, that is, a distant relative, from whom Mr. Montesquieu was born. Although not ancient enough, it is also noble. Three generations of the Montesquieu family - grandfather, uncle and nephew - have successively become presidents of the Bordeaux Court. The old Montesquieu was a wind-swept chicken with a keen sense of smell. He did not hesitate to surrender to His Majesty as early as when the king was in charge. Therefore, he got the position of the Bordeaux court. He waited until his eldest son, Montesquieu's uncle, succeeded him. After obtaining this position, he also sensed that the Sun King might no longer judge job rewards based on bloodline and surname in the future, but purely judge a person's value based on talent and talent, so he began to do his best to cultivate the third generation.

It is not that Montesquieu's uncle did not have sons, but from the perspective of old Montesquieu, the eldest son's sons were not useful, and giving them a higher status would only bring shame to the family and them. So at his request, Montesquieu Mr. Desquieu received from his uncle the title of Baron Montesquieu and the position of President of the Court of Bordeaux.

He came to Paris this time, firstly because Count d'Artagnan did not forget his previous kindness and repaid the Montesquieu family, and secondly, he wanted to attend a grand celebration that was rare in a century before officially taking up his duties. ——The eightieth birthday of King Louis XIV of France.

Not to mention that coming three months in advance is a bit early. If he was not Count d'Artagnan's child, he might not be able to borrow a room in a hotel in Paris. Some people came to Paris a year in advance, and some people deliberately made mistakes. Little mistake, I want to live in the Bastille... Because of the protection of Count d'Artagnan, this young Baron Montesquieu has been smooth sailing. He was received when he arrived in Paris, and there was one facing the Seine River. From his room, he could see the Louvre standing by the river and Notre Dame in the middle of the river. Carefree, he naturally spent all the remaining free time in Paris's galleries, cafes and parks, as well as the cloth Lorne woods.

He rode horseback to the Bois de Boulogne almost every day, walked or swam, or went to the zoo to see animals. He really didn't expect to encounter such an unreasonable disaster.

Really, it was a real disaster. When Louis read the report submitted by the Duke of Burgundy, he was a little bit dumbfounded.

The man who just passed by Mr. Montesquieu but suddenly turned around and stabbed him with a dagger claimed that he did it because he heard Mr. Montesquieu humiliated him, although this was also a crime. The policeman asked the man how Mr. Montesquieu had humiliated him. The man refused to tell him until the policeman told him, His behavior was likely to be sentenced to death, and he panicked and said that it was because Mr. Montesquieu had humiliated his origins.

After further investigation, it turned out that the man was the illegitimate son of a British ambassador, and his mother was a black slave. Although in terms of skin color, some French people who came back from America were darker than him, but if you look carefully at the facial features, it is still Some clues can be seen from the protruding forehead, brow ridges and overly protruding lips. When he was in Britain and the British colony of Africa, he was insulted by many people and his temperament became particularly irritable and sensitive.

What had poor M. Montesquieu done?

Seeing the low dusk, he became very interested and casually recited a Latin poem from the thirteenth century... which contained the word "black".

The transliteration of the Latin word "black" is Negro. Unfortunately, it is similar to the English word "black" Negro. Originally, Latin was the source of the latter... But what is even more unfortunate is that the British here In the past thirty years, this word has long been transformed into a contemptuous term for black slaves. The illegitimate son of the British ambassador had heard many such insults when he was in England and Africa, and he was also on tenterhooks in France, lest anyone see him out. He had a miserable background, but he didn't expect that someone would loudly humiliate him with such a despicable name on the bustling Boulevard de Boulogne. His blood immediately rushed to his head, and he immediately pulled out a knife and gave it to the other person. A few times.

Mr. Montesquieu, who woke up in the hospital, listened to the police's questioning and couldn't help shouting injustice. Not only him, the French only had a small amount of slave trade in the mid-to-late seventeenth century, and they were soon forcibly ordered by Louis XIV. Stop, all the slaves have been released, including blacks and Indians. Now the Indians have become lords. There are also many young people from the Far East studying here. Parisians have long been accustomed to it and don't care at all. Pay attention, in the words of Parisians themselves: It’s not too late for them to discriminate against people from other provinces, so forget about foreigners.

So Mr. Montesquieu didn't notice it at all. Even if he noticed it, he wouldn't think of it. If he thought about it, he wouldn't be so cautious... Fortunately, the current hospital can perform surgery, and Mr. Montesquieu is also lucky enough not to be injured. The spleen and liver were damaged, and only a few inches of intestines were missing. But he will spend the next three months in the ward and his room.

"Then, according to French law..." The Duke of Burgundy sat beside Mr. Montesquieu's bed and said slowly.

"Foreigners who attack their own citizens are guilty of an additional one degree; civilians who attack a judge are guilty of an additional one degree; and who attack an unarmed person with a weapon are guilty of an additional one degree." Mr. Montesquieu said fluently. He was a lawyer at the age of nineteen. At the age of twenty-five, he was a consultant to the Court of Bordeaux, and now he is the president of the Court of Bordeaux. His grandfather constantly urged him to recite and study the legal provisions set by the king. Of course, he was very familiar with how to convict people.

"Death penalty," said the Duke of Burgundy.

"No, wait," Mr. Montesquieu said: "His father is the ambassador of the embassy. If he is willing to legally recognize this illegitimate son..."

"He is unwilling." The Duke of Burgundy said: "He is willing to use money, intelligence, and even some British interests in exchange - it seems that he still likes this illegitimate son, but when it comes to admitting it, he thinks this The behavior was detrimental to his reputation, no, he firmly refused to admit it." He paused: "The criminal's mother was a slave."

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"I don't understand." The Duke of Burgundy always asked his grandfather for answers immediately if he had any doubts: "Many British and black slave women have children, but they don't love their children at all, or It is said that they can talk about love verbally, and then give a little favor, but still register them as their own slaves and let them be bought and sold - some of them are obviously rich and high-status people, with hundreds of There are thousands of slaves, and it’s not a problem to free one, two, or even a dozen, so why don’t they do this?”

"Because they don't see black people as human beings," Louie said.

After he managed to get the Duke of York to completely drive the British forces out of America, the British had no choice but to turn to Africa for development. When people think of Africa, the scorched deserts, scorching sunshine and zero zeros immediately come to mind. Star trees, but it cannot be denied that Africa once gave birth to a great and ancient country like Egypt. Without enough food, water and other resources, it would be impossible to support such a giant.

Now the British are growing cotton in the Nile River Basin, wheat and barley in the coastal areas, corn and potatoes in the south, and some cash crops such as coffee, cocoa and tobacco. Not only have they taken away the land of the local indigenous people, They also forced the natives to become their slaves and worked for them day and night.

"People have empathy," Louis said. "If you want to impose such a cruel fate on the same kind of people, the only way to comfort yourself is to exclude them from the ranks of humans. Would you sympathize with a rogue horse? You Can you love a hound? Can you love a cup? You can't." He said lazily: "What's more, for those whose interests are paramount, the reintroduction of slavery is a kind of progress rather than a regression. They have suffered enough as hired workers and of course they want to avoid making the same mistakes again."

"Wait a minute, are you right? They suffered as hired laborers? Did half of the people in Ireland immigrate to the New World because they had enough of the blessings so they had to suffer for themselves?"

Louis couldn't help laughing at his grandson's fierce reaction: "Yes, even under their oppression, British civilians began to refuse to continue to have children and resist, but they still didn't think it was their fault for being too greedy, so from the beginning, they They have no intention of hiring workers in the colonies, they just want slaves."

"This is how they treat Indians, and this is how they treat blacks."

"Black people... are a little different. Their society is quite primitive, and so is their thinking. Before the arrival of the British, except for Egypt, their tribes had not even entered the primitive commune period. Everyone was like a beast, relying on hunting and gathering. They have to make a living, and the vast Africa can indeed support them. There is no word work in their minds." The king shook his head slightly: "If you don't force them, they won't work. It will be hard and long-term. , you have to use tools and work in a disciplined manner, which is a torture for those people who were originally free."

"Ah..." The Duke of Burgundy didn't say it, but Louis knew what he was thinking - he has been tightening immigration quotas in recent years, not only in France, but also once or twice a year censuses have been carried out. What is ridiculous is that some foreigners are still accusing the Sun King of losing his generosity. The French nationalism is too extreme and too xenophobic, but the people of the Bourbons are quite supportive of it - they are the Are the kings who are unwilling to share their kings with others still a group of outsiders who have never served the king and country, and have never maintained a loyal heart.

"And in recent years, the number of slaves in Africa has exceeded their masters by too many," Louis added: "In the first century BC, a famous Roman citizen called on the masters to strengthen the supervision of slaves. Let the slaves be strengthened. They obeyed completely, otherwise the world of Rome would fall. How many slaves were there in Rome at that time? Nine hundred thousand people, and how many citizens there were, one and a half million. This ratio had already worried the Romans, who had a powerful army. In today's Britain - ha, their Minister of the Navy and Minister of War are complaining that they cannot recruit enough soldiers - the gap in the population is not so easy to make up for, so the UK has to draw blood from Africa so that civilians can Rest, recuperate, and reproduce.”

"So, in addition to those people who are born cold," the Duke of Burgundy said, "there is another reason, probably their default rule - slaves cannot be released at will."

"Well," Louis nodded and narrowed his eyes: "If you don't treat slaves as human beings, you can't treat them as human beings."

"But it does not prevent them from having children with their slaves," the Duke of Burgundy lowered his voice and muttered: "What the hell are those Angsa people?"

Seeing that his grandfather's eyes had been closed, he gently stood up from the chair and walked out quietly.

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In order to ensure that the celebration of the Sun King's eightieth birthday three months later would not be disturbed, the murderer of Baron Montesquieu went from trial to execution extremely quickly, even if his ambassador father repeatedly pleaded to no avail - -Although he has repeatedly refused to recognize this illegitimate child, even from a legal perspective.

The only preferential treatment he received was to be beheaded instead of hanged, "noble-like treatment." The warden of Bastille wiped his tears with emotion. He completely inherited the obsession he got from his grandfather and father. Unfortunately, Starting from Louis XIV, unless the crime was extremely heinous, few people were sentenced to death, let alone members of the nobility and royal family.

When that unsightly head fell, there was still a trace of reluctance. After all, he could always do whatever he wanted in his father's manor. After leaving the manor, although he would be humiliated by others, he could also humiliate those who were humbler than him. Not to mention that his father would comfort him and even be willing to take him to Paris at such an important moment - when he stabbed the knife into the belly of a passerby, he never thought that he would be sentenced to death.

Unfortunately this is the Paris of the Sun King.

However, in the eyes of Parisians, the death of a sinner is not worth paying attention to. A year ago, smart people came here to rent a room in advance, and the people here started preparing for this grand ceremony three years ago - even if Half of this pageant must go to Versailles, but does any other city have this honor? No!

Not to mention, this is not just Paris, it’s Versailles, a grand ceremony for France, and for the whole of Europe!

Bourbon now has three irrefutable orthodox crowns, France, Poland and Spain, and three virtually unquestionable crowns, the Commonwealth of Italy, the Grand Duchy of Upper America and the Federal Republic of Lower America.

Needless to say, the Federal Kingdom of Italy, the Grand Duchy of Upper America and the Federal Republic of Lower America are more interesting, because the two French Dukes who went to America together in the end can be said to have achieved their wishes, but it was the other's.

The Duke of Halepur initially thought that he could win his own territory and crown in America like his elder brother Luciano, but what he didn't expect was that after he came to America, he completely unleashed his wild nature and fought with After reaching an agreement and treaty with the local Indians, he started from New Brussels, his jurisdiction, and fought with the British, Dutch, and Spanish (exiles), all the way to the southernmost tip of South America, and finally stopped in front of the Strait of Magellan. It wasn't that he couldn't fight anymore, but he saw the big island across the strait.

So he told the people around him, I have given up my original idea and no longer want to be a king, but I want to dedicate this island to my father. After everyone agreed, he dedicated this island to his father. The large island remains and will be presented to Louis XIV as a gift to the King on his eightieth birthday.

The original name of this large island was Tierra del Fuego, but now people call it Birthday Island.

Its ownership was preserved centuries later.

As for the Duke of Montreal, he always thought that he should be the leader of a republic. What he didn't expect was that the Indians in North America were the first to come into contact with France. As I said before, they were like a dry sponge. They would absorb whatever was given to them. What will be reported back? The British taught them deception and blackmail. For the French, in addition to the generous gifts from Louis XIV, it was the Parisians' fanatical enthusiasm for worshiping the king.

They thought they should have a king.

Before the Duke of Montreal could decide how to proceed, he became the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Upper America...

In short, Louis XIV is still regarded as the king of Upper America and the head of state of Lower America. For the people of this era, they still choose more familiar terms, and the six crowns are obviously more beautiful and more pleasing to the ears than the three crowns. , so the song "Six Crowns" quickly spread in the streets of Paris.

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On September 5, 1718, Louis woke up to the chorus of "Six crowns, six crowns...the great shining Sun King...".

"Who," he muttered, "can't be Molière?" Only he could be so bold and naughty.

"It's Mr. Rameau." Queen Theresa whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty, it's time for you to get up." She didn't say that Molière died more than ten years ago.

When Louis woke up a little, he saw the queen in full dress and the solemnly dressed Bontang standing beside his bed.

"It is the children who sing." The queen said. Little Louis's children came a little late, but his children came very early. Now Louis has several great-grandchildren, not to mention others from Italy, Poland and Spain. There are also Bourbons from America.

When Bontang saw that the king was awake, he made a gesture. The attendants filed in and helped the king get up and wash up. Escaped from the eyes.

If it were normal times, Louis would definitely persuade him to rest or sit down, but today... Louis smiled.

After getting dressed, they went to the chapel for mass and then had a solid breakfast back in the suite - what followed was an arduous battle.

Before the children, attendants and priests arrived, he took Queen Teresa's hand and walked together to the terrace.

From this terrace you can see directly into the Palace Square below.

In a daze, Louis could still see the boy who was only fourteen years old, wrapped in a big black coat worn by low-level officials, holding down his bright blond hair with a big hat with gray feathers, holding resentment and uneasiness. , the figure who boarded the carriage and left quickly - and then came many hours, countless names, and voices that were either loud or weak, they were like lightning flashing across the king's eyes and ears, Never come back.

"His Majesty?"

"Come," said Louis, "come, queen, and see, this is my France."

He opened his hands to her.

(Full text ends)

There's a special episode tonight, a special episode on Louis XIV's 80th birthday! Thank you all for your long-term companionship over the past two years, and thank you all for your enthusiastic support and never giving up! The new article will be published on October 1st, and I will be preparing to save it this month. Extras of Louis and the Saint will be released one after another! Please stay tuned. The update time will still be at nine o'clock or eleven o'clock in the evening. I will ask for leave if something happens. Bow, thank you, cheer!