The world-devouring dragon

"For France, the greatest significance of the emergence of Joan of Arc is that it turned a succession war that was originally only related to the nobility into a sacred war between France and Britain, inspiring the patriotic enthusiasm of the French people and promoting the modern national concept. The birth of.”

——"Teach you interesting history"

In July 1465 AD, under the city of Paris, boiling military flags were waving like clouds. Looking at the scene in front of him from the top of the city, Louis XI frowned.

"Bold Charlie...so bold."

Louis XI, known as the Spider King, stroked his chin and couldn't help but sneer.

Louis XI was the son of Charles VII. Since the incredible appearance of Joan of Arc, France's national enthusiasm has surged. Even after Joan of Arc was captured, Charles VII still ruled the country steadily. , while wooing the Burgundians and negotiating with the British, while expanding his territory.

Finally, more than ten years ago, the former desolate crown prince regained the last piece of French territory. King Henry of England admitted defeat. France won the Hundred Years' War between England and France. The century-long war of succession came to an end. King Charles of France also borrowed the opportunity. This expanded the royal family's territory and enhanced its status.

However, because of his inaction in the Joan of Arc incident, Charles has been criticized by scholars. As the king who ended the Hundred Years' War and single-handedly laid the foundation for the centralization of the French royal family, Charles VII was only praised by historians as " "Victor" - the person who wins, this is certainly a praise, but there is also a vague concept that is unclear. The person who wins is not necessarily the "great one". It is hard to say whether there is any insinuation from scholars in this.

After the death of Charles VII, his son inherited the throne of France. Unlike his father's conciliatory attitude towards the nobility, this "Spider King" who liked to manipulate intrigues and power came to power and vigorously promoted talented civilians, completely ignoring them. The nobles lost their status as nobility, and deprived several nobles of their territories in succession, which made the nobles look at each other, and eventually triggered the rebellion of the "Public Welfare Alliance" led by "Charlie the Bold", the Duke of Burgundy this year.

"Joan Arc... Joan of Arc... If I have people like Joan of Arc, why should I be afraid of people like Bold Charlie? It's a pity that the saint did not follow me, but followed that coward."

Looking at the Burgundian army under the city wall, the French King said with regret.

Beside Louis XI, several ministers pretended not to hear and remained silent. Louis XI's dissatisfaction with his father, Charles VII, is well known. When he was still the crown prince, he once united the generals to launch a rebellion against Charles, but was suppressed by Charles.

After he became the king himself, he became even more unscrupulous without restraint. He had always admired Joan of Arc, and had regretted many times that he did not have outstanding generals like Joan of Arc under his command. At this moment, he was forced to be trapped in Paris by the army of the Duke of Burgundy. , it is inevitable to make some complaints.

Staring at the army in front of him, Louis XI was thinking, but his mind could not help but recall what happened more than twenty years ago...

At that time, he was just a child of seven or eight years old. He was arranged by Charles VII to be protected in a castle. The dark castle, humid environment, and endless bad news were all he lived in his childhood. In panic. Not to mention that he was just the crown prince's child. Even the crown prince himself didn't know what his fate would be, and it wasn't until that year that a girl came out of the blue and changed everything...

It is difficult to describe what kind of image that is for a child. The heroine who turned the tide became the idol worshiped by the children, but it is a pity that this heroine was burned alive because of her father's inaction. This was not at the heart of the bad relationship between Louis and his father, but it undoubtedly had an impact.

"That coward", "the incompetent fool"...

It is hard to imagine that this is a child's evaluation of his father, full of malice. It was not until he took over France that he could understand how much France owed Joan of Arc. To this day, even if twenty years have passed , France is still deeply affected by the deeds of that heroine.

When did the French people first realize that they were French, not just Burgundians, Normans, and Aquitaine?

At this moment, from the palace to the countryside, the whole of France is surging with a strong upsurge, an upsurge called "nationalism". Strong voices are looking forward to the true unification of the entire France, rather than being divided by each country. Separated by lords large and small.

"Joan of Arc..."

The "Spider King" pondered, once again enviing his "incompetent but lucky father". How could such an amazing and talented general favor that coward so much? If Joan of Arc was under his command, if that heroic figure was If the figure is still there...this kind of predicament will definitely not stump the saint who has repeatedly performed miracles.

"We must make more efforts to promote some talented people instead of letting incompetent nobles with only family backgrounds sit in high positions."

The Spider King thought again in his mind that he did not believe those nobles, because when he was a child, he had seen enough of the incompetence and ugliness of those nobles, and it was not those nobles who could save France.

"Let's give in for now and wait for the future..."

After taking a deep look at the Burgundian army in front of him, the Spider King turned around and left without looking back.

"Tell Daring Charlie that I will agree to his conditions."

This king, who had always been cold and cold, spoke with rare certainty, and there was some inexplicable meaning hidden in it...

…

AD 1483, Florence, Italy.

The night is deep, and the sky is filled with stars outside the window, but a middle-aged man is still crouching in front of the case, writing quickly with the help of the candlelight beside the table, the tip of the feather pen keeps writing beautiful cursive characters, his face is as sharp as a knife The ax chop, especially the slender eyebrows are very beautiful, with a feeling of sharpness like a sword, and the solemn pupils are like obsidian.

Sometimes, he would stop writing, think for a while, and then write long articles without thinking.

"... My brother, as I said, it is not impossible for humans to fly into the sky. In fact, I am working on a machine that uses air to glide... God has mercy on me, but I regret that I still live in poverty. , which makes me unable to do more things. For this reason, I have to serve the Duke of Milan and design those damn new weapons..."

At the end of writing, the middle-aged man seemed a little annoyed, as if designing new weapons made him feel quite resentful.

There are many incredible imaginations in his mind, and there are many ideas that he can't help but want to realize. Those steel chariots, flying aircraft, instruments that capture thunder and lightning... But he can only continue to He went to design new weapons for the Duke, because the noble lords were not interested at all in his ideas.

When he got angry while writing, he couldn't help but stand up and pace around the room alone. After a long time, when he accidentally caught a glimpse of the small sculpture in the corner of the room, the resentment in his heart gradually disappeared...

It was a dignified woman wearing military armor, less than a foot tall, her bright eyes were shaped by gems, and her empty hand seemed to have once held some weapon, but the long years had made the thing in her hand disappear. Even with the critical eye of a middle-aged man, this is a rare work of art, but this is not the key. What really interests the man is the secret contained in this sculpture.

Sitting down again, the man started writing again.

"My brother, I am afraid it is difficult for you to understand how I feel now. Last time I told you about the sculpture. I bought this sculpture from an antique dealer. He boasted that it was the French general Gilles... De Reis, the famous Hand of Bluebeard."

"After the death of the Saint of Salvation, the famous French general gradually went crazy and became obsessed with black witchcraft, so much so that he killed more than a hundred children to perform devil sacrificial rituals. He was eventually executed by King Charles VII of France and burned to death On the stake. After his death, many of his properties were liquidated and sold, and this commemorative statue said to be modeled on the face of Joan of Arc was one of them. It later passed into my hands several times."

"However, I am not interested in France, but what makes me curious is that there is a complex mechanism hidden in this seemingly ordinary sculpture, as if there is something hidden inside. The extremely strong metal material prevents me from destroying it. I also disdain to use this crude method to destroy such a delicate mechanism, but I have been thinking hard for a long time, but I still can't crack this mechanism... I suspect that this sculpture may be missing a component, maybe it is the thing missing in the hand, maybe it is the flag , it may be a gun, or a long sword, in short, it must be coordinated with something like that to successfully open this thing..."

While the middle-aged man was writing furiously, he suddenly felt a chill on his back and felt as if he was being watched by someone.

He suddenly turned his head to look, but saw nothing, only the furnishings in the room and the female sculpture looking at him. The gem eyes of the female sculpture were still shining brightly even after decades, which made One cannot look straight.

"I'm so tired."

Shaking his head, the man felt that it was probably because he was tired that he had this inexplicable illusion, so he prepared for the end, left his final signature on the letter, and then lay on the bed to rest, falling into a drowsy sleep.

In his hazy dream, he seemed to hear the murmuring voice. His brows frowned slightly, sweat gradually appeared on his forehead, and he fell into some inexplicable anxiety and uneasiness...

Late at night, the wind outside the window picked up and lifted a corner of the letter paper on the table, revealing a line of cursive characters on it.

“…my brother, God bless you, Leonardo di Piero da Vinci.”

In the room, only the heroic female sculpture remained the same, but at some point... the gem's eyes changed their angle, and their cold eyes looked indifferently at the mortal lying on the bed, trapped in a nightmare...