I Am Louis XIV

Louis was already fourteen years old in 52, which is the generally recognized age of adulthood, but when he was in Hertel, the queen mother was reluctant to hold a coming-of-age ceremony for the king in a small, unknown place, etc. When she arrived in Paris, between the aggressive Prince Condé and the ulterior Duke Gaston, the Queen Mother lost all interest in it. For her, Parisians are half rebels and half thugs. I was not qualified to witness such an important event, and at that time Bishop Mazarin had retired to Bouillon again. Although the queen mother didn't like this person very much, I had to admit that without the bishop, the royal family in Paris seemed to be lacking. an arm.

After the victory of General Schaumberg and Viscount Turenne in Paris, the people of Paris—from the judges of the high court to the humblest commoners—come to ask the king to return to Paris as soon as possible, but compared with their eagerness, Louis' reaction was much colder, just like what he said to his younger brother Philip, if he returned to Paris, he would never allow himself to be driven out again - in addition, compared to Paris, Versailles is also more serious. Concerned by him, he estimated the time, summoned Dean La Riviere, and asked him to pick a suitable day, whether it was a saint or a saint, anyway, he was going to hold a high mass, and then he would Perform a special blessing ceremony.

Speaking of this kind of blessing ceremony, for Louis, it is also dangerous, because this so-called touching ceremony requires close contact with lymphatic tuberculosis patients.

The founder of this ceremony was Clovis I, the founder of the Frankish Kingdom. One of his courtiers suffered from lymphatic tuberculosis. Of course, people at that time only called it white plague, because the patient's neck would grow The largest is the size of an egg, and the smallest is a swollen blister the size of a pea. When the pus inside accumulates to a certain extent, it will flow out from the festering fistula. heal him.

And just one night later, Clovis I saw an angel in a dream, and the angel told him that as long as he touched the patient with his holy hand, the patient would be cured. After hearing this, Clovis I This was done, and within a few days, the minister miraculously recovered.

However, as far as Louis is concerned, this legend is likely to come from two urgent needs. One is Clovis I. He was just the leader of several Frankish tribes before he defeated the Roman Empire in Gaul in 486 A governor, Sigrius, occupied the entire northern Gaul and called himself the king of Frank. Just like every Roman emperor would deify himself, he also needed to break away from the mundane to ensure that this noble throne would not be shaken; One is the church. At that time, most Franks, starting from the king, still believed in the Arianism, which was regarded as heresy. Of course, this needs to be corrected. In this case, when a miracle that is beneficial to the royal power and the church appears It couldn't be more logical.

Clovis I announced to his subjects that he would regularly hold such touch-up ceremonies to exercise divine power so that his people could bathe in the grace of God, and the king after him not only took over his scepter, He also inherited his "sacred ability". In the 11th century, the King of England also claimed to have mastered this skill, and treated patients including but not limited to lymphatic tuberculosis with great fanfare. Even his father was beheaded by the mob , He himself was also expelled from his homeland, and Charles II, who lived in no fixed place, also held such ceremonies many times, and some people even trampled each other to death in order to compete for a top position.

Of course, Louis was not unprepared for this. Physician Vesalius prepared a paralyzing potion (suppress cough) according to the king's request, and refined extremely high-purity wine. Every patient who came to ask for a touch of medicine had to drink the potion , Wipe your face and hands with wine, so that the chance of infection is minimized, and as long as you are healthy, lymphatic tuberculosis is not an easy-to-infect disease... On the day of the touching ceremony, nearly seven or eight hundred strangers came to Versailles , they came from far and wide, with fervent hopes—the king was waiting for them at the foot of a cross standing in the wilderness, and although some insisted that such a sacred ceremony should be performed in a church, the chapel of Versailles could not hold so many people. Some people said that the ceremony should be moved to the Notre-Dame Basilica in Paris, but was rejected by the king-he chose here precisely because the wind and fresh air can take away most of the germs.

During the ceremony, the patients walked to the king and knelt down one by one. Louis touched their foreheads and cheeks with his fingers, and then took a hanging from the hands of Dean Larivier. The white ribbon of Louis d'Or is hung around the patient's neck, and the whole touch treatment process is over.

Louis once wondered that this kind of touch treatment could also heal the patient-indeed, in the records he saw and the words of the priests, the king did have such an ability, but he also repeatedly asked Mary and Vesalius to do it. Test, he is not a wizard, no, it should be said that as long as he is a king, he cannot be a wizard.

If you want to say whether there have been wizards in the royal family before, yes, just like Vesalius' father, but such members will soon be "died" or have "accidents", not just the church or the church. The world and the surface world, and the inevitable threat of a king who is a wizard to the royal power-just like the hidden alliance of vampires also quite consistently avoids people who are too close to the royal family-so that they can barely The maintained balance will be completely destroyed. Wizards and vampires have their own ambitions, but they don't want to see a fragmented and chaotic hell.

Looking at it now, Louis thought, it might be because some of the patients with lymphatic tuberculosis might recover on their own—especially if they can get the news, and it is almost impossible for the people who rushed here to be poor farmers or craftsmen. There is a healthy and resistant body, and then there is a "placebo" effect-when religious forces still occupy people's spiritual world, such a miracle can definitely make a person full of hope , the last is the gold louis that the king hangs around their necks. Maybe some unfortunate people are really hard-pressed, so twenty livres worth of gold louis can also make him spend a good time. Many people , just get a little respite and get back on your feet.

Taking a step back, those who got worse or simply went to see God, he, and his relatives, can they still complain about God or the king?

The touching ceremony spent a whole day in the king's constant slander. Louis' arms were sore, his tongue was astringent, and he gave away more than a thousand gold louis—some commoners may have come here just for this gold louis. But it's not without reward, they will carry Louis' name everywhere, let more French people know that they already have a holy and benevolent king, not kidding, generally outside of Paris, Not many people cared who their king was, or even who their lords were - as long as they didn't tax them anyway.

After completing this work, Louis began to prepare to return to Paris. The queen mother was gearing up and decided to hold an extremely grand banquet to celebrate Louis' coming of age. Louis also reminded her that Philip's "hanging trousers ceremony" had to be held first. , so that Philip could follow him as the Duke of Anjou, which made the queen mother hesitate, but agreed.

As soon as Louis returned to his bedroom, his younger brother Philip immediately appeared outside the door. After obtaining permission, he walked towards the king overjoyed and knelt deeply to him.

"I have come to thank you, Your Majesty," said Philip. "I have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

"I know," Louis said gently, "I want to say that I am too." Although I understand the intentions of the Queen Mother and Bishop Mazaran, it will be fine when I am five or six years old. He insisted on adding fencing, throwing and horse riding to Philip's lessons. Philip now has five feet, which is equivalent to a height of one and a half meters, and his facial contours are not as round and amiable as before. In short, the twelve-year-old Philip is no longer so suitable for wearing skirts, and two years later, when he reaches Louis's current age, he will enter a period of changing his voice... If he still wears skirts at that time, it will be a problem for many people torture.

Philip pressed his lace nightcap. As he said, he didn't hate women's clothing very much, but he also knew very well that he was the Duke of Anjou, not the Princess of Anjou. Although in the courses of horse riding and martial arts, the teachers almost He never gave him any kind feedback, but Philip thought that his talent in these two courses was not inferior to female red and copywriting, and he was not stupid. There were not many credible or usable people around Louis—especially He knew it was the marshal and the general, otherwise his brother would not have easily forgiven their former enemy, Viscount Turenne.

There are not many people who enter the army at the age of twelve, fourteen or sixteen, such as General Schomberg, the Viscount Turenne, the Prince of Condé, and of course the Duke of Anjou. Philip also knew that he still needed to wait for the opportunity, or his brother's trust in him-the king warned himself not to act too hastily-Louis had been quite tolerant to him, especially not for a brother, but for a king.

"A louis d'or, what are you thinking now," said the king.

"I was thinking how I should repay you," said Philip, and as he spoke, he stretched out his hand to help the king take off his heavy coat, which was his duty and right as a king's younger brother.

"Loyalty." Louis said without thinking, "and love, that's enough."

"You will see," Philip handed his coat to the steward beside him, "I will dig out my heart and offer it to you on a plate."

"Keep your heart well in your bosom, Philip," said Louis more gently, "just don't break mine."

When the Duke of Anjou was about to say something, Bontang suddenly appeared. As the king's first attendant and the head of the bedroom, he has always been cautious, and he would not intervene between the king and the Duke of Anjou without winking. If you do it, it means that there must be something urgent that needs to be reported.

"Monsieur Sebastien le Pretre de Vauban requests an audience."

It was an unfamiliar name, but Philip immediately told the king that he was tired and asked the king to relieve him of his work today. After getting permission, the duke quickly left the king's bedroom.

"To my surprise," the king nodded, and Bontang helped him put on the coat he had just removed. "Bring him—I'll meet him in the inner room."

Bontang bowed and left, and the king calmly walked to the inner room under the guidance of the attendants. The inner room is part of the king's private suite, just outside the bedroom, but out of Louis' needs and preferences, the four walls here are It was a bookshelf, full of books of all kinds, and a hidden secret door in which some poor printings that would frighten the priests were hidden. In front of the black leaded glass window was a dark The brown walnut desk has a chair behind it and two chairs in front of it. The backrests and cushions of the chairs are filled with horsetail hair or silk cotton according to the king's requirements, and covered with gorgeous jacquard velvet.

Moonlight was streaming in through the windows, but when the servants lit the candles, the thin silver gauze disappeared in the brighter light.

But when the sun rises, the candlelight will be eclipsed again.

That was what Sebastian, the young man who had volunteered to guide the king and his soldiers at the Red Boys Fair, was thinking the moment he stepped into the room.