I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 387 The King's Parade (10)

  Paul always felt that he was much luckier than others, and those who knew him would say that.

He had the same fate as most people in the Nord Calais region—sometimes English, sometimes French, and sometimes neither country, whose lives depended on smuggling and smuggling. Looting, from France to England, or from England to France, simple-minded, able-bodied men go out to "work", women, old people, and children in charge of concealing, dividing, and disposing of the loot (removing the loot or smuggling it) overly obvious logos), and there are frail but nimble fellows who become businessmen who bribe officials and buy and sell "goods", and gifted children who are fortunate enough to be secretaries and deaconesses , climbed out of this **** quagmire.

   Paul's uncle was such a man. Their great-grandfather, grandfather, father were both privateers, in other words, smugglers and pirates, but compared to other privateers, Paul's great-grandfather was quite a visionary, he started very early I realized that pirates would not be a long-term business, and that the benefits were far inferior to those of officials who could get money from the comfort of a big, spacious house. Of course, as a sailor-turned-guy, nine times out of ten, he's been deceived and ridiculed, but his perseverance has finally paid off in Paul's father's generation. Paul's uncle was smart and beautiful. Child, he was sent to Italy to study, managed to make some friends, and finally got the position of a priest-in-residence in Naples, which is why, after Paul was almost hanged for smuggling, he was still able to use a "clean and innocent". Because of his status as a priest.

However, the priest is also very old, and Paul is almost fifty years old. There is no other person in their family who can be called extremely good. There is only a young Jean Bart, who is in the military academy set up by the king. Studying, but also because he is too young and only a low-ranking officer, it is difficult to say what his future prospects will be. After some unwillingness, Paul calmed down. He continued to do his old business in the Lord's holy residence on earth. He was prepared to get some more money, and then he brought back his uncle who was far away in Italy. After all, he could be in his hometown. An old age is a happy ending for anyone.

But fate's temperament is always so bad. On that night, he first welcomed his long-lost nephew, his dear Jean Barr. He hadn't had time to properly entertain his long-lost nephew, and he was only so far away from the visit of the **** of death. One step Eva suddenly ran to his chapel again - Eva and Priest Paul are a bit distant, but Eva can also call him uncle. He also watched Eva grow up. After all, many people here are close to each other. So-then it's the **** Brit who starts a riot, burns his chapel, and Jean Barr arrives at Dunkirk to deliver the news overnight, and he waits in the house while taking care of the poor girl...

Needless to say, the riots of the British were quickly quelled, and the man who punished them, ha, it was his good nephew Jean Bart, people say Vendôme, the governor of Dunkirk The duke admired this young man very much, and promised to promote him and reward him, and the fact was that, when "Jack"'s head was hung on the city wall, Jean Barr also became a young schoolmaster, and he brought his uncle the A bounty, enough for him to rebuild a white marble chapel.

   That's not all, the king heard about the unfortunate girl Eva, so he sent her to Versailles to meet the king. Priest Paul was a little worried at first because she had not returned, but Jean Barr wrote to him that Eva had been favored by the king and the lord in Versailles, and she was now the maid of the lord, Afterwards, it is possible to dowry to Spain or Prussia.

  Pastor Paul was not worried about dowry. Although he came from a humble background, as a businessman and priest, he was more knowledgeable. Although Eva has always been stupid, she is also the daughter of a privateer. She has seen blood and corpses. She may be lacking in words or deliberation, but her decisiveness and madness when necessary make it easier for her to be in an unfamiliar environment. Gained the advantage.

  What he didn't expect was that Eva actually mentioned herself to the king. When the king came to Dunkirk, the king summoned him.

While he was rejoicing in rebuilding the chapel, he also cut a few new vestments for himself - completely righteous, because his vestments were all destroyed in the fire, and he couldn't wear mortal clothes to ring the bells and read for the people, And if it is smuggled woolen and satin, it doesn't cost a few dollars. Wearing a thick satin black vestment, with a gold cross, and a delicate ivory and garnet rosary hanging on his wrist, he respectfully stepped into the king's palace today.

Reverend Paul, or in other words, everyone who saw Louis XIV for the first time, would be surprised by the king's appearance and the incompatibility with his age. In this era, the age of forty can be said to have entered the age of decline, but The king looked like Jean Barr, who was 50 years old. His eyes were still as clear as a child's, his cheeks were rosy, his hair was thick, and he was tall and slightly thin, but his actions were very powerful.

The king kindly asked Reverend Paul to sit beside him. He asked a little about the reconstruction of the chapel, and promised that he would be willing to build a church in Dunkirk for the lord of the county. If Reverend Paul wanted, he could become The resident priest there. Of course Reverend Paul would, and he happily mentioned to the king that even if he had no experience as a resident priest, his uncle could help him—because there was only one such family in their family, no, it could be said to be two outstanding men now He couldn't help but mention his uncle who was far away in Italy, and the king paused slightly when he heard his uncle's cathedral. "What a coincidence," he said, "I have heard of this church again."

   "Have you heard of it?" Reverend Paul was also a little surprised: "It's a new church."

Said to be a new church, given that Paul's uncle is also in his seventies, of course, this church cannot be younger than him. It is a building in the early seventeenth century, but in Naples, the most is the church, and there are many churches. Built in the sixth century or earlier, it was only renovated many times in the later period, and because this church is a new church, it is possible for the uncle of the priest Paul to become the resident priest there.

   As for how the king would know - that's because the church is right next to Napoli Bay.

  Because of these words of the priest Paul, he was given a seat of worship.

After getting the spectator seat, he can't leave Dunkirk for the time being - the priest Paul has no objection, the king was assassinated in Dunkirk is well known, and after Flanders, Holland and Camnico The great war, the rise of a powerful and wealthy power has become an indisputable fact, how can France's enemies be willing to sit still? Assassination has always been the best strategy, not to mention the situation in France, where both politics and the military are in the hands of one person - Prince Louis, the crown prince, can't deter the high-ranking officials under the Sun King's command. They are now It is only because the Sun King is sitting on the throne, and if the Sun King suddenly passes away, there will inevitably be people who want to plan for themselves.

   A weak and chaotic France is what the Habsburgs and even the British would like to see.

   After enjoying a delicious and sumptuous meal in his room, Reverend Paul went straight to the window without lighting a candle and admired the scenery in front of him.

For the son of a privateer, the sea and the port were the most common things, but the location was not something someone like Reverend Paul would have every day—the king's castle, aka Dunkirk (the king's poor). Named talent), is a newer building than the church of Uncle Paul, because it was built after the completion of the first Dunkirk dock. It is more like a fortress than a palace. But at this time, the fortress no longer needed to be as closed and dark as the previous castles. The windows of the rooms were inlaid with huge and translucent glass. The glass in front of Priest Paul’s eyes was five feet wide, and he could overlook the entire port without hindrance.

The port of Dunkirk now has three docks, like a sharp trident, facing Suffolk, Essex and Kent in England, especially Southend - the mouth of the Thames, Everyone knows that upstream from the Thames Estuary is the key point of London-Britain, so Louis XIV turned from his alliance with Charles II to the Habsburg flirtation, and even deliberately set off the Dunkirk riots, not at all. Unexpectedly, the king is selfless, which has long been proved by countless people.

   It was enough for Louis XIV to get the last English foothold in France from Charles II.

The three docks that the king ordered, built by French craftsmen, architects and wizards unknown to most people, were surprisingly empty. Reverend Paul clearly remembered that when he occasionally visited the priest in Dunkirk, he saw it. At least a hundred ships have been moored in the dock, but now they seem to have been taken away by a naughty child, the sea is silver, and there is no trace left.

Reverend Paul was wondering where they had all gone--he couldn't help but think of the war, with the English or with the others, but the king was here, and there was no way a ship could not be left in the port... He itching, no. Any idea what tricks these guys are playing, maybe it has something to do with the so-called spectacle? He thought that he was almost going to find his nephews and ask them if they were preparing for some big event, but then he dismissed the idea.

   At this time, someone knocked on the door outside.

The priest thought for a while, then pulled out a dagger and inserted it in his jacket, walked over and opened the door. Outside stood his nephew, Jean Bart, with a dignified expression, the arrows and stars on his shoulders gleaming. When he saw his uncle, he raised the wine bottle in his hand.

"How did you come?"

   Paul asked casually, closing the door for his nephew, and when he saw him draw a dagger and put it on the table, Jean Barr was a little surprised: "You are in the king's castle," he said.

Reverend Paul glared at his nephew: "There is a saying that once you get on the swing, everything will be fine." "Playing the swing" is a popular saying among pirates, because at that time, people would hang pirates on the pirates in order to deter criminals. On the gallows in the port until it is completely decomposed, when the moisture in the corpse is dried and the weight is reduced, the corpse will sway on the gallows, looking like it is on a swing..." Even Eva would not say In this case."

   This is really not a joke. In the court of Louis XIV, poisons and daggers were not uncommon. In order to eliminate dissent or remove stumbling blocks in the future, directly destroying the body is still the most effective method. There are not many people that the king cares about, and it is even more difficult for a dead person to spare Louis XIV precious time from his busy schedule, unless you are a figure like the Duke of Luxembourg. While receiving the favor of the king, the priest Paul is even more careful— With the two red princes Richelieu and Mazarin in front, who doesn't want to grab great power from the king's letter? Even if not, look at Larivière and Elarius, the former is a fat mediocre, but it is better to serve early, the latter is but a presiding judge of the Inquisition, who has now put on a red coat in Rome .

  The strife of the priests was far more dangerous and intensive than the battles of the pirates, and it was difficult for the priest Paul to guarantee that there would be one or two impulsive guys who would give him a knife before people understood why the king was so fond of him. You can of course disbelieve or feel wronged, but the most critical issue is that you didn't have the opportunity to appeal in person at that time.

   "Why don't you light a candle?" Jean Barr said, he went to the table, put down the wine bottle, found a match in the drawer, lit the candle, and the room suddenly lit up.

   "I'm looking at the port," said the priest. "I mean it really doesn't matter? From here I can see three whole docks and the surrounding fortifications."

   "What people in Dover can see just by holding up a telescope has no value in secrecy." Jean Barr said: "You can see and understand."

   "I see the docks are empty," said the priest.

   "Why, I can't tell you where the boats have gone," said Jean Bart.

   "I don't want to know either," said the priest, "but it shouldn't be a big problem from the way you're smiling. But I think you'll probably have something to say to me when you come to me."

   "It doesn't really matter." Jean Barr looked at his uncle and said, "I want to know more about that great-uncle."

   "Oh," said the priest, "I think that's all there is to it."

   Calvin, the window has been empty for a few days, I'm sorry, I'll make it up when I come back, I won't go into details, so as not to set up a flag.

   (end of this chapter)