I Am Louis XIV

As I said before, the prime ministers of France and Spain are trying their best to win over a rebel, that is, the Lord Protector of England and Ireland, Cromwell, just because he has a powerful army and dozens of only ones who follow him. However, because of his previous actions—executing a king and exiling a king—in this transaction, neither King Philip of Spain nor King Louis of France appeared directly or wrote Letters come and go, either from Don Luis in Spain or Mazarin in France. It is precisely because the contacts between them are not public that we do not know what Cromwell thought at the time. We only know that he chose the French in the end. It is only relative, and he is not empty Begging, every soldier he sends needs a salary.

But now that the Lord Protector has made a decision, the battlefield will naturally not be in Calais, but in Dunkirk.

Here we have to mention the familiar Prince Condé and the Viscount Turenne, who were close friends during the Battle of the Old Town of Hetel, and became sworn enemies when they arrived here. Condé knew Turenne, and Turenne also Knowing Condé, so their war in Flanders is like two carpenters sawing a big tree, coming and going, often repeated-not long ago Condé and Austrian Marshal Don Juan assisted He broke through Marshal La Fertè's line of defense and captured the poor nobleman, but in an instant, the Viscount Turenne integrated the failed army, counterattacked the Spanish army and captured a city. It is rare in military history; however, in less than a year, Condé made another beautiful counterattack in Cambrai. army.

It must be said that there is something else that can allow people to get a glimpse of it. Choosing the winner to place a bet may lie in the authority and support that the king of Spain or France is willing to give these two outstanding military geniuses. At this point, The king of Spain must not be comparable to the king of France. Although it is common for the nobles of one country to serve another king at this time, and even bear the titles of two countries, Condé was an enemy general who had fought against Spain for many years after all. Of course, the king can be generous, but the soldiers may not be able to - Kong Dai can certainly gallop and strategize on the battlefield, but when it comes to how to control these subordinates who were once the enemy, so as to reach the point where he can use his fingers is a difficult thing.

Compared with Condé, Viscount Turenne has a lot less constraints here. In other words, the king does not hesitate to help and trust him. After forming an alliance with Cromwell, his General Robert Blake led the British fleet Blocked the Spanish coast and important ports, cut off all commercial exchanges between Spain and the West Indies, and also intercepted an important carrier fleet. Four million livres, for Spain, this is a serious blow-because these gold from the colonies are prepared for the upcoming war.

At the same time, the British fleet also had 20 ships heading for Dunkirk. They carried 6,000 combat-experienced soldiers and joined the French army. At this time, Condé and Marshal Don Juan had to lead After all, Dunkirk is more important to Spain than those two ships of gold.

What lies before Mr. Bishop and Louis is that they urgently need a sum of money to satisfy Cromwell's insatiable appetite. Mr. Fouquet's method of collecting money is exquisite, but the king does not want to indulge him too much, because the director of finance is best at It is lending, this method can indeed make up the deficit on the book as soon as possible, but from Louis' point of view, it is like drawing blood from the human body and then reinfusing the blood into the body, it seems that it can really make people look energetic for a while, The blood is strong, but after all, the blood lost before has not been made up. On the contrary, in the process, Mr. Foukai took the opportunity to suck a few mouthfuls.

What the king wanted to do was to buy and sell luxury goods for the nobles and ladies, and Marie Mancini got everyone's attention as soon as he appeared in the hall, which can only be said to be commonplace after hundreds of years Hairstyles, decorations and clothing, at this time, hit people's hearts like a thunderbolt—beauty is uniform in many cases, unless it is distorted for political or other purposes, even if there are jealous people who don't want to Admit it, then the king personally invited Miss Marie Mancini to dance the Gavotte dance, and I heard that this outfit was all ordered by the king, and those sour and strange words immediately turned into envy and compliments.

Not to mention, when the king came to her with Miss Mancini's hand, the queen mother said kindly to Miss Mancini: "This is such a beautiful little rose." This was the end of her unilateral cold treatment of Mary.

The next day, the king saw that from the Duchess of Montpensier to the lowest maids in the court, they no longer covered their hair with headscarves, but curled their hair like Mary did—here It can be seen how much power and wealth can play a role in beauty, such as the duchess, their curly hair is as beautiful and elegant as those Greek statues, and when it comes to those maids, Bontang can't help but give orders, They were not allowed to use the charcoal in the fireplace to roast their hair, and there was a smell of burnt flesh everywhere, and their hair curls were not only messy, different in size, but also had many yellowish spots.

If anyone still remembers, the youngest son of the barber who volunteered, the surname of this family is Champagne, and when his father was the king's barber, people said Champagne, referring to the lucky one who was allowed to touch The craftsman of the king's hair, after Marie Mancini shocked the court with a beautiful and unique hairstyle, people talked about Champagne, that is, the little Champagne, the reason why he became famous overnight, Just because he is even more arrogant than his father--if he wants to make such a hairstyle for himself, not only must he pay five hundred livres every time, this little M. Champagne used The satin roses, camellias, diamond hair pins, or other expensive accessories on the hairstyle cannot be refused. Once he refuses, he immediately turns around and leaves... In this way, the gold louis used for each haircut is even It can fill a small box as big as your hands. Even so, ladies still flock to it... After all, the hairdo made by this little Mr. Champagne is so beautiful, so beautiful that as long as it does not rain, they will definitely Only ride in an open carriage, so that passers-by can admire and admire.

Moreover, the king often holds balls recently. In addition to the noble ladies who are invited according to the etiquette, there is also Marie Mancini. Almost all the people he invites have extremely unique ideas, although the king knows well that this is Little Champa. Mr. Champagne's masterpiece—or it is some of his advice to Mr. Champagne, but he will definitely admire it... After the rumors spread that Mr. Bishop deliberately chose a "royal lady" for the king, every This noble lady has a different hairstyle at each ball, and it is getting more and more exaggerated and more gorgeous... When the king dances the gavotte dance with other gentlemen, he needs to turn his head around to avoid it When the flowers and feathers on the lady's head were worn, the "special tax" paid by Mr. Champagne to the king was enough for the early stage of the war.

"Women are horrible," said Louie.

This sentence was heard by Mary who was sitting at his feet, and she inevitably made a voice of dissatisfaction. The king had to make another concession, promising to go to Versailles with Mary before going to Dunkirk, alone, only The two of them.