I Am Louis XIV

Although it can be seen from the window, the Viscount Turenne would not place the British army so close to the king, so all the king saw was a row of red dots—they were in the town. Besides, training in the middle of the flat hills, the king took the binoculars sent by the Viscount Turenne, and put them in front of his eyes to see the Englishmen—they were uniformly dressed, wearing red coats and yellow shoulder straps, Gray caps, gray trousers, and brown boots, their ranks were neat and firm, without laughter or slack, much better than the French army.

"Are these all infantry?" asked the king.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Viscount Turenne.

"Mr. Cromwell is really quite generous," said the king sarcastically, and he returned the telescope to Viscount Turenne. "Cromwell's New Model Army is said to have only 14,000 infantrymen, and he is willing to give us nearly half of them...Of course, the price he asked for is quite high." He pondered for a while: " Mr. Viscount, may I ask you to do something for me?"

"At your command at any time, Your Majesty," said Viscount Turenne.

"I hope you can invite someone for me at the banquet tonight."

"May I ask who has the honor?"

"The supreme general of this army."

Viscount Turenne hesitated for a moment, because in his opinion, although the officer was also a nobleman, he was not yet qualified to have dinner with the king, but Louis had already said so and vowed not to betray the king again, And the Viscount Turenne, who obeyed any of his will, would not refute - just a little doubt, the king also noticed this, he stretched out his hand and put it on the shoulder of the Viscount Turenne (satisfied to see that he made This action is not difficult), "My venerable sir," he said, "don't think I value a foreigner more than a Frenchman," the king comforted: "I just want to know what kind of man he is, And this point, conveyed and described by others may cause fallacies, so I must see him with my own eyes."

"May I boldly ask..."

"Of course, Mr. Viscount," the king explained mildly, "you know that the roll of money I just gave you is not the full reward for the British."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have heard a little bit about it."

"I have to admit that I have always been reluctant to admit that Oliver Cromwell's pseudo-rule has caused some trouble to our bishop," the king pointed to the bills of exchange: "so it can be said that these were ordered by Cromwell. The envoy's additional return, the Englishman's original and unaltered demand, was Dunkirk—the city."

Viscount Turenne was silent for a few seconds, and the king saw a look of shame on his face, and realized that the general had misunderstood him—of course, for Viscount Turenne, a genius in the army, For ordinary people in politics, it is really shameful to need the army of another country to seize a city that originally belonged to France, but the king will not criticize his generals because of this. As the saying goes, the best hunters have no horses. And dogs, don't even think about chasing foxes—without soldiers and officers, no matter how perfect Viscount Turenne is, he can't conjure up enough troops, and he is not God.

"What I mean is," the king put his hand affectionately on the back of the elder who could be his own father, "Mr. Viscount, these six thousand soldiers are not only to capture Dunkirk, but also to occupy Dunkirk." Alke's."

"His Majesty?"

"When we capture Dunkirk, according to the agreement, it will belong to the British...Of course, Cromwell chose France between Spain and us because he believed that Spain is now Britain's biggest enemy ——Before Dunkirk became the nail of the British cutting into Flanders, it was also the port and fortress of the Spanish privateers, and you know, most of the prey of the Spanish privateers were the British fleet—so Dunkirk Erke is bound to win.

Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, he must have stationed troops here. Then, what could be more righteous and logical than the soldiers of the New Model Army who have achieved great results in this battle? "

The king patted Viscount Turenne on the back reassuringly: "I heard that they have given you the command of these 6,000 soldiers, so I hope that you can understand them as much as possible and master them, especially It's their officers and generals," said the king as if talking to himself: "After all, I don't know when they will become our enemies again?"

————

Since the king said so, or because he said such a heart-to-heart to Viscount Turenne, Viscount Turenne must complete the task assigned by the king and invite the officer to the dinner.

But to be honest, this officer is unwilling to accept this honor from the bottom of his heart. The British and the French have been enemies for a hundred years, and I am afraid they will continue to do so. The enemy Spain has come together, but no one knows what the future will be like, but during the time that Viscount Turenne spent with them, he really conquered many people with his charm, including him, and this time the Viscount Mr. also brought the money order entrusted to him by the king—he thought he would have to wait until the end of the war, and maybe it would take a while to get it. This made him and his soldiers feel a lot more at ease. If they died in the war, their children and parents can receive pensions and pensions.

So after hesitating for a while, he accepted the king's invitation and set off immediately, arriving at the king's palace in advance to show his respect to the French king. Turenne introduced him to the king, and he did it respectfully. He was probably only a little older than Louis, with a young but serious face, but when he heard his surname, the king asked, "Is George Monk your father or uncle?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," said the young gentleman, "he is my uncle."

"How is he now?"

"He's Governor of Scotland now," replied Mr. Monk.

The king nodded, and they took their seats. Mr. Monk's seat was on the right side of Viscount Turenne. Of course, the "swimming quail" that he had joked with Mr. Bishop before was not served, and they ate it seriously. A meal of fresh sea fish, shell stewed eggs and bread. When Mr. Monk discovered that the King had been paying attention to his uniform, he had to ask His Majesty if there was anything in doubt?

"I just saw that the color of your clothes seems to be different from the other officers. They are gray and you are blue. Is it because of your position or something else? Of course, if this embarrasses you, you can No need to answer, I'm just a little curious."

"Oh," said Mr. Monk, "there is nothing unanswerable, Your Majesty, the reason why my trousers and hat are blue is because I was once a soldier of Commander Thomas Fairfax, Although he has resigned from his post now, even as a commemoration, Your Majesty, I still consider myself his soldier."

"You are a faithful man," said the king.

Monk bowed his head humbly and proudly, accepting the king's compliment.

————

The king's appreciation for Mr. Monk undoubtedly attracted the attention of the bishop. There is not much estrangement between him and the king now, so he asked directly during evening prayers.

"It may be said that this young officer is a treasure boy," said the king.

The bishop's expression suddenly became strange. Fortunately, he has also gotten used to the king's strange remarks recently, "Why do you say that? Because of his surname?"

George Monk did hold power in the British Parliament and the army, but as he faced several setbacks with the Royal Army (Charles I's army), he had to retreat to Devonshire, and later Oliver Cron Will felt that he was still trustworthy, insisted on promoting him to the position of fleet commander, and won a huge victory in the first Anglo-Dutch war—now he is at his most glorious time, even his nephew, Impossible to be bought by the French.

"No, I have no intention of that." Louis said: "The name of Monk is indeed worthy of our attention, but I am concerned about Fairfax, who voted against the decision on whether Charles I should be executed, and he was very clear. "

"He is now retirement in the country."

"Since he can leave, he can go back." Louis turned around: "If Thomas Fairfax can return to the center of power in England, then Cromwell will be troubled - in 1640, Cromwell is only a squire councilor, Fairfax has inherited his father's title and is a baron; when the new model army was established, he was the commander-in-chief, Cromwell was only a lieutenant-general, His prestige in the army is also higher than that of Cromwell, and so are his victories and experience; In the end, when discussing the issue of the expedition to Scotland, he had a big fight with the former and resigned angrily, and now we may not necessarily be dealing with Oliver Cromwell."

"But that's not to say he's interested in a restoration of the kingship."

"He maintains due respect for the Crown, and that is enough, Monsieur Bishop."

"You still intend Charles II to regain his throne?"

"Yes, Monsieur Bishop."

"But what good is it for us?"

"When France must face an enemy, Monsieur Bishop, if you had to choose between Cromwell and Charles II, who would you choose?"

Louie closed the Bible.

"Charlie, of course it's Charlie."