I Am Louis XIV

In real history, our musketeer M. d'Artagnan, famous at home and abroad because of a talented writer, has become the acting captain of the company of the guards by the favor of the bishop M. Mazarin, but here , at the moment when the king had shown his talent, and Bishop Mazarin had made an appropriate concession, the position of acting captain was handed over to Sebastian Vauban. Although young, this man had already fought in many campaigns, and his deeds were enough for the Prince of Condé to summon him from Flanders to Paris to reward him (although because of Vauban's loyalty to the king, the prince finally can He said that he made a wedding dress for others), and was very modest, so although he also attracted some jealousy, at least he did not suffer as much dissatisfaction as M. d'Artagnan when he took this position.

D'Artagnan is also very clear that he is of ordinary origin, and he is a Gascon, who is completely different from most musketeers-as mentioned before, the Gascon has always been regarded as a character A rebellious provincial, so although he failed to get this position, after regretting it, he was not so grieved, perhaps because of this naive optimism, although dArtagnan's personal morality was really criticized More than that, but the king was still very close to him and willing to use him.

And Mr. d'Artagnan, like every time in the past, whether it is Cardinal Mazarin or His Majesty the King, he can be said to accept the task happily, without a hint of reluctance. The King encouraged him a few times. In a word, he gave him a purse: "This is the money for your outfit." Louis said: "There are a hundred gold louis." The noble majesty paused with an unpredictable expression: "If possible, I Guess you'll need someone else's support."

D'Artagnan raised his handsomely trimmed moustache, and admitted that one or two, or three or five ladies, did see him from time to time, and hung them on his saddle after each meeting. purse, which is common and something to be proud of (certainly not the hapless husband), he certainly would not be foolish enough to contradict the king, and the overly flamboyant Gascon bowed to the king, reminding himself that only I can use a piece of handwriting to say goodbye and comfort my lovers. After all, it is extremely difficult for a lover or a soldier to refuse their tender gifts.

One hundred louis d'Artagnan is equivalent to two thousand livres. D'Artagnan is the musketeer of the king, and of course he also has one of the horses given to the musketeers by the king. Black marks, well-proportioned and powerful limbs, eyes like black almonds, more affectionate than any lady he has ever seen, so dArtagnan's cost was immediately reduced by a lot, and he paid for it. The horse had a new saddle, black calfskin studded with silver studs, and chose for himself a velvet coat with silver lace at the cuffs and neck, a white linen shirt, and brown cuffed boots, and a wide-brimmed hat decorated with ostrich feathers. In short, he redressed himself according to the most popular style among Parisians at the time, and used up nearly seven or eight hundred livres at once.

Compared with d'Artagnan, Colbert's dress is much simpler. He looks more like a Dutchman than a Frenchman. His black coat hangs down to his knees and the belt is tied inside the coat. With only a plain gray feather in his hat, he was older than d'Artagnan, so he looked like a squire or a servant of d'Artagnan, but that's what the king and he needed , let people keep an eye on the so-called special envoy d'Artagnan, what Colbert is going to do is more dangerous than him, but the king also said that if something irreversible happens, they can escape first .

However, neither d'Artagnan nor Colbert hoped to return to Paris in despair because of nothing. Feeling a deep crisis—just a few days before their departure, Fouquet quietly returned to Paris and returned to the king. He brought back a huge sum equivalent to 350,000 livres, which made the king nervous Fouquet couldn't help but feel relieved. In the still shaky Fran, it is really gratifying to be able to get such a generous return, but Fouquet was not satisfied with this. He submitted a plan to the king, intending to The gambling business went outside France, but was rejected by the king.

Colbert knew why His Majesty rejected Fouquet. The reason was very simple. After leaving France, Fouquet's behavior might bring him a terrible death immediately. A large amount of wealth (not even including taxes and bonuses to the lord), as long as people are greedy, it is said that even if he did not leave France, in Franche-Comté he was almost bet by a thousand bets but got nothing. The count was arrested and hanged as a liar.

The king even asked Fouquet not to leave Paris for the time being, and the gambling business should be temporarily stopped. Although the treasury is empty, as far as His Majesty said, such behavior is like sucking blood from a cow instead of milking it. Forget it twice, if it happens too frequently, it will only lead to more chaos and depravity in the whole country.

Fouquet was disappointed, but it didn't matter, he also got the position of financial director promised by the king, which made Colbert deeply distressed, no, it was not because he also coveted this position, he knew that he could not become the king's minister for the time being , compared to Fouquet, who is already a nobleman in robes, he is still just a small businessman, but the king's attention to him makes Fouquet very jealous of him, and Colbert knows a thing or two about the king's character , as long as it is useful to him, the king will protect him without restriction, even if his enemy is Bishop Mazaran, it doesn't matter, the problem is, if he disappoints the king, then the result can be imagined.

So the two went on the road with their own minds to complete the work assigned by the king.

_____

At this time, the Duchess of Montpensier, who was still far away in Burgundy, did not know that there were two people who were coming to completely destroy the relationship between her and her father, the Duke of Gaston, although they were already crumbling like a spider's thread in the wind. .

After she settled down in St. Fargo, she began to carefully manage her own small world. Although she was not favored by her father and was expelled from the court, the dilapidated castle of St. Fargo made her unable to continue to immerse herself in her self-pity. In the Duchess, perhaps erring on the most important matters, her wealth is unquestionable, and gold solves many problems whenever and wherever—in d'Artagnan to St. In Fargo, this remote and barren place has undergone many changes, and almost all of them are good changes. The road is flat, the wheat fields are green, the villages are full of smoke, and there are many simple but complete inns along the way. , the inn provides board and lodging, dArtagnan asked the people in the inn, and they all said that there are always some noble lords and ladies passing by here, and they are all guests of the castle of St. Fargo, so they will be on the side of the road Open an inn for them to rest.

This information made d'Artagnan a bit vigilant. The father of the great princess is the Duke of Gaston, and his lover is the Prince of Condé, and they are the biggest enemies of the king and the bishop.

He and Colbert rode forward together. Along this road, they soon saw the Saint-Fargore Castle half surrounded by the forest. Amidst the blue color, right in front of it is a flat semi-elliptical square, which is cut into different but symmetrical shapes by six paths, about two-thirds of which are rough stone bricks, and the rest are fluffy creeping grass.

There are many four-wheeled carriages and horses neatly lined up on one side of the square. In front of the fortified gate, every guest took out a letter of invitation and was led in. Some of them forgot to bring the letter, or they just heard that there was an event here. For grand occasions, uninvited guests who think they are qualified to be invited, as long as they have a trusted courtier or close wife of the duchess to testify, they can also enter. D'Artagnan rode straight past, dressed in the same way that he owed the king a hundred louis d'or, as distinguished as a prince, and immediately a servant in decent clothes came to ask him if he had received the invitation Of course, the servant got an answer that was completely unexpected to him, so he immediately rushed in and told the news to the duchess' maid.

At this time the Duchess was wearing a gorgeous crimson velvet dress, sitting in a small reception room with her two closest friends, the talented Madame Jeanvigne and Madame Lafayette, smiling I listened intently to a young gentleman playing the violin, and when the piece was over, the three ladies clapped their hands happily.

"Where did you find such an angel?" Madame Lafayette asked. "His hands are magical. I have never heard such beautiful music."

Mentioning this, a gloomy look flashed across the face of the Duchess, because this musician was given to her by Bishop Mazarin as a servant. Of course, it was 1646 at that time, and she was still the darling of the court.

Madame Lafayette did not know, but Madame Jeanvigne did, and was about to say something to change the subject when she was interrupted by a soft knock at the door.

They watched as the Duchess's most beloved maid came to her side and whispered something, the Duchess held the fan tightly with her hand, and immediately stood up: "Where are they?"

"hall."

The Duchess walked out quickly without even having time to explain to the two ladies. Mrs. Lafayette only had time to catch up to the door when she saw the princess's skirt disappearing at the end of the corridor.