I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 301 A burlesque

Bishop Barras kicked open the carriage door with a burst of anger. The loud noise shocked the people who made the noise, but as soon as they saw the bishop's uniform and holy belt on Barras, Immediately, he ran over with bright eyes, knelt beside him, and talked about something.

This surprised Barras. He didn't rest well last night. He wanted to take a nap today and was woken up. His head was jumping, and he could hardly hear what they were saying. There was a man who was very observant, and he managed to ward off those who had come to ask the Lord Bishop to decide, and graciously invited Ballas to be a guest and rest in his manor.

Barras reluctantly maintained some dignity and caution, first returned to the carriage, and then tiredly listened to the priest beside him reporting the identity of this person, it turned out that this person is the lord of this small town, where he has a large area of ​​land With the people, today he is going to handle an extremely evil case...

Barras had no idea if someone had lost a **** or if a lady had been touched, he just wanted to rest or go on his way, but the baron begged him to give him a pope The honor of the special envoy, Barras had to agree, and his team came to the baron's manor, where it was truly entertained - of course, a small town like Pliwa can't even compare with Marseille, let alone Paris. Or Versailles. But when Barras got up sleepy the next day, his entourage happily told him that the roosters and potatoes were fresh.

  When it comes to potatoes, Barras is a little unhappy, because potatoes were also introduced to France by Louis XIV, and then swept the entire Europa. The poor used it to feed their stomachs, and the nobles used it to create all kinds of eating methods - boiled, steamed, stewed, roasted, cut into shreds, fried, ground into puree, mixed with... Fried and fried into finger-length and thick strips, the Roman priests cocked their noses when they mentioned Louis XIV, as if they had smelled a pile of stinky shit, but they were ruthless when they ate the potatoes he promoted.

What Barras didn't expect was that a baron in a small town was also so rich, he meant that his breakfast had a rooster stew with potatoes in yellow curry, a real big pot, a rooster was nothing, potatoes were more. It's nothing, but there is a problem with such precious spices, and it's not just for him, Barras made up his mind, he won't sell himself for a pot of yellow curry potato chicken, although he eats it , but will not accept each other's feelings.

But the baron is not so stupid. After the king banned the tax collector system, he was also a lot better as a baron of Privat - the tax collectors bought the right to collect taxes from the king in the past. Afterwards, they have to add 20%, 30% or even 50% of their profits to satisfy their appetite. Mr. Baron does not need to pay taxes, but his people need to pay taxes. He is not that vicious to the extreme. The guy, even a little weak... When the tax collector was still there, he could only barely guarantee that his castle would not leak, and that there would still be pork and wine on his table. The suffering of the people is something else.

Once the tax-paying officer system is abolished, he can also be happy and have no pressure to collect the original rent or harvest from the subjects, thank God, at least when he rides a carriage through the wilderness, or rides a horse. When hunting in the forest, there will be no "savages" who are desperate and desperate because they can't pay taxes, lose their land, lose their homes and relatives, and give him sticks and stones...

In the beginning, only men who needed to work could have enough to eat. Later, fewer babies were "accidentally" crushed to death by their mothers at night. After reading the newspaper, he asked the steward to go to Orleans and Paris to buy them. Seeds of tobacco, tomato, and pepper, which, though not as reliable as wheat, could make a good fortune, and the tenant farmers even now had the luxury of drinking ale, with lace on their headscarves and shirts, like a gentleman. He smoked his pipe and put on his boots.

But Almighty God, Baron Privat thought with a grimacing face, those damned poor ghosts, when they can't keep their stomachs full, forget it, and now it's better, they have fallen into the devil's trick again, and start There is not much to say.

Bishop Barras thought it was just a matter of losing a **** or someone rubbing his ass, which the baron could solve with ten sticks each, the problem was that when Barras passed through Privat , something big happened on his farm.

   Twelve people were poisoned to death in a peasant household.

Even the Baron Privat felt frightened by this number. He had never even been on the battlefield. Even during the Frond Movement, when the most chaotic times, many people died of starvation in his small town and farm. There is no need to converge and bury, he just feels that his territory is becoming more and more empty. But wait until the king comes to power, thank God! Many of his subjects came back one after another, but the most fortunate were the tenant farmers who insisted on staying in the farm and did not escape. They persevered when others abandoned the land and fled, and before the people came back, they leased a lot of fields to the baron, and after hiring those who had no land to work for them, they became rich in assets. .

As far as the man Baron Priva knew, he was talking about the gentleman who was poisoned. He used to be a cattle herder in the village, so he had some savings because of this. Before leaving the village, the baron was also moved to reward him with a gold louis, which he pierced around his neck and wore it like a medal—of course, when he asked for more tenancy When Tian Shi, Mr. Baron also agreed, if he remembered correctly, the cattle herder probably rented the land of all his relatives and friends.

Some of these people came back, some didn't, anyway, after they came back, how they had to become slaves to the cattle herder, and how they cursed the cattle herder in anger, the baron is not interested to know - this case is not difficult to solve, stick, It's really not possible to have a soldering iron or a flowering pear. Although the king's supervisor will not trust such evidence, but... this is still the countryside after all.

The result is not surprising, the murderer is the only survivor, the thirteenth person, the deceased's little nephew - his father and brother died in Le Puy or Mound, he returned to Privat alone, and he Not only did his uncle not take care of him, he also treated him like a bull and a horse. He was willing to accept it because his uncle promised to marry his daughter to him. Then give him a field and a house to live in. Who knew that as soon as he turned around, his uncle married his daughter to a soldier who, although not serving Louis XIV, boasted that it was possible for the king's custodians to pick soldiers from their army to Orleans, Versailles or Paris, everyone knows what that means.

   His uncle did not hesitate.

   This young man didn't hesitate, he got poison, put it in the wedding ale, and killed twelve people at once.

If this is the case, it is also very simple. Although Pliwa is small, there is also a square for execution. He can choose to be hanged or beheaded. It is a pity that the king abolished the torture by wheels a long time ago. Punishment and other cruel and long execution methods, but the source of the poison given by this young man brought another trouble.

That's a good thing for three priests, they are secretly selling the so-called "succession potion" - the name is a bit awkward, but the rare priests don't lie, of course, kill all the heirs before you, of course you will Could be the first heir, as the lad did, and if he wasn't so rash, all the money his uncle had saved, the livestock and the fields would be his.

So Mr. Baron ordered the soldiers to arrest the three priests - mainly because he absolutely didn't want to have such three people on his territory, heck, he could inherit and be inherited too, he didn't want to just have a glass of wine one day I was honored to meet God in advance. That kind of poison is instant, and you won't even have time to do the sacrament of death. As a result, by the time his soldiers ordered the priest of the church to hand over the three priests, two of them had already run away, leaving only one guy named Ravigule.

And then this guy comes up with a charter—a charter, which means that people who are lucky enough to have this kind of instrument, either issued by the church or issued by the bishop, are privileged to do things that are otherwise prohibited, or exempt from Do something that originally had to be done. The three priests are of course the former, claiming that this "succession potion" was created to warn believers away from greed and depravity.

   No, everyone who has a heart of greed will be sent to **** by this potion.

The Baron of Privat thought about it all night, but couldn't decide whether to hand over this matter to Mr. Bishop of Privat or Mr. Supervisor of Privat, but there is no simple matter involving the Church of Rome. He also doesn't know if the charter is real or not - it turns out that his sister in Marseille wrote him a letter telling him that there was a good chance the church envoy would pass by Privat, so...

This matter may have been a hot potato for Baron Privat, but not for Bishop Barras. As soon as he heard it, he guessed that the charter came from the hand of the madman wearing the triple crown, the so-called "competition "Potion of Succession", he only took a sniff and knew that it came from the wizards, the poor **** in the hands of Clement X, when he heard the baron say that there were two priests at large, His expression became more dangerous.

   "It's false," said Barras succinctly, taking the friar Laviglle from the baron and preparing to take him all the way to Paris.

To the surprise of the Baron de Privat, the papal envoy did not embarrass him because of his arrogance. He happily prepared a new car for the tolerant bishop - the latest carriage from Orleans, except for more In addition to large glass windows, a more ornate interior and a stronger and wider carriage, its wheels are inflated rubber, and in addition to the body becoming more stable, the horse can also pull the carriage with very little effort - the carriage will be faster.

  This is a pleasant surprise, at least Ballas can finally take a long nap in comfort in the carriage.

  ———

  While Ballas was still taking a nap on the road, Louis was going through his usual busy day.

He has returned to Versailles from Paris. He stayed in Paris to support his daughter and niece. Did not even the Duke of Orleans, who always liked to be free, honestly stayed in the Louvre for fifty days? ? Fortunately, no one dared to try to offend the king. The four art academies headed by the eldest princess, the grand princess, the dauphin and the duke of Colonna greatly satisfied the curiosity of the provincials and the vanity of the Parisians, and even the public display was over. , there are still a large number of painters, dancers and musicians in Paris. On the one hand, they want to wait for an opportunity to go straight to the sky, and on the other hand, it is also because the Parisians and the swarms of tourists can meet their most basic living needs.

   They can go back to their original city, but after seeing Versailles and Paris, how can they be willing to stay in a small and lonely place? There is beauty, nobility, and opportunities everywhere. Although few people can get their wishes, who can guarantee that they will not be the next Rembrandt?

When the Marquis of Lois came to see the king, Louis XIV was taking a rare moment to appreciate the gift that the Dauphin gave him, that is, the "Night Watch", and later heard the hapless Dutch painter Rembrandt say , this is not the original "Night Watch". Although the Night Watch made his employers very dissatisfied, they finally took the painting back at a discount. However, their attitude towards this painting and its creator They are quite different. Not only did they cut off the surrounding of the picture in order to hang the picture on the established wall, which made the whole picture unbalanced, but also because the room where they were located used peat fire for lighting and heating, so they piled up a layer on the picture. Thick black ash.

Rembrandt, who heard about this from a friend, was very sad, so he repainted "Night Watch", which is smaller than the original, but more perfect, because this painting does not need to pursue the satisfaction of the employer, but only needs to achieve the creation. It is not surprising that the eldest princess took a fancy to it, and even Louis could not put it down.

After the Marquis of Lois came in, Louis beckoned him to come over and admire this work with him. If you are not familiar with this majesty, you may feel uneasy. However, the Marquis of Lois has been following the king since the battle of Flanders. How could he not know that this is the king's intention to express his closeness? He hurriedly stepped forward and stood beside the king, looking at the picture carefully. work.

   (end of this chapter)