I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 400 A Small Decision of the King

Viscount Arthur's face was pale, and he and the people around him had constantly "sniffed" his Majesty's preferences and preferences. In past memory and information, Louis XIV was not an irritable and bloodthirsty person. I thought... although the secret mission could not produce it, it could not produce the appointment letter and other official documents of Charles II, no, wait, it should be said that even if they can produce it now, Viscount Arthur will not let them Take it out, or a charge of treason will be placed on his head.

   But these people... are not ordinary liars, even the secret mission, the members are all nobles without exception!

Sure enough, the king's sentence was handed down here, and the members of the embassy who were led to the makeshift execution platform almost collapsed, begging, screaming, crying incoherently - they shouted that they were not civilians and should be more respected. And forgiveness, and shouting the names of relatives and friends - not to mention the deep hatred between Britain and France, but they still often have marriage and blood relationship between them, the kind that happens in one country, because the heirs are cut off, the courtiers will go to another. A country's request for a king is still possible in a fief.

Louis sat on the high platform and listened carefully. There were indeed ministers and nobles behind him who were related to these people, but those who could follow the king on a grand parade, even if they were not loyal enough, were wise enough, even if they didn't know the inside story, they could Feeling the gloomy and ominous feeling about the king, some people almost guarantee that if anyone speaks at this time, Louis XIV will make him the next batch of unlucky people to be sent to the gallows.

   "There are thirteen in total, Your Majesty." Justice Sergei Le Brun approached the throne and whispered.

"It's really a good number for good luck," said the king, and he reached out and brushed the document handed over and signed it calmly, even though the members of the embassy had a prominent or not-so-prominent last name, But here, they are all just low-class people who are good at deceit and blackmail. The nobles may listen to the nonsense of a madman, but they will not believe the confession of a poor man - it is not their fault, at that time, and For many years to follow, high morals and impeccable character were closely associated with people of high status—they had no formal papers, no one dared to corroborate them, and they had to die.

Soon the first man was dragged up, and he tried to keep calm, to intimidate the mad French king with a look of composure and hatred, but he failed, and the fear of pain and death easily made him cry Si crossed, tears clouded his eyes, and when the executioner rudely pulled out the fist he was trying to curl up in the lace cuff, he shuddered and howled, and stopped abruptly—he passed out, the executioner Looking at the high platform, the Marquis of Lois made a gesture, so... the executioner raised his axe, and with a dull thud, a pale hand rolled and fell to the ground.

   Blood spurted out, and the tortured person was awakened by severe pain. After waking up, he only glanced at it and fainted again.

In this era, there are always many people gathered around the execution platform. First, because there are no ordinary people in this era who are qualified to enjoy entertainment with money, and second, according to the medical theory at that time, human body and blood can be used as medicine, fresh Human blood can enhance human energy, human fat can be used to wrap wounds and candles, and human bones can be used to treat head ailments—headaches and nosebleeds. Therefore, the criminals on the execution platform are similar to the pigs, cattle and sheep in the slaughter shop, and they all have a group of eager customers.

   But today, the onlookers are extraordinarily silent, not only because the king is also here.

   These are thirteen noble masters.

Nobles have always been able to get extra rewards. Except for treason, any of their crimes can be offset with money and titles. Sometimes the maximum punishment that falls on them is only life imprisonment, and the treatment in captivity - from food, clothing, housing and transportation. On the one hand, they are not much different from his original life, and some criminals can even meet with their families, manage accounts and even receive visiting guests in their cells.

If an aristocrat is executed, it must be a major event, but there are thirteen here, not to mention the commoners watching the execution in silence. When it came to the fourth, even the nobles standing behind the king, there was a slight commotion. , an earl unfortunately saw his relatives, he couldn't help but want to go up and plead - not to the king, he was not qualified to speak to the king before the king opened his mouth, what he pleaded was Sergey the Lord E. Lebrun.

He took off his diamond brooch and ring and held it in his hand—everyone would dress up as brightly as possible when he was driving, so that the king could see him, and the jewels on his body were valuable, and they were big enough. The judge said something, he thought, not to mention that people may not blame the king, but they may criticize Sergey Le Brun, who was with the king at the time.

But he was immediately stopped. He looked back and saw that it was a good friend of his. The latter was working under the command of the burgeoning Marquis de Seneret. He glared at the count and shook his head forcefully but slightly, with stern eyes Like ice water that quenched the Count's courage, he lowered his hand feebly, averting his eyes from the poor man.

   The count's friend was relieved. If it was someone else, maybe he could try it, but Sergei Lebrun? He was one of fourteen judges who readily complied when Louis XIV asked the judges of the High Court to move to Pontoise—that is, from an independent institution to the king's vassal, and people thought he was crazy— The High Court could be said to be too big at the time. Every judge regarded himself as the uncrowned king. They not only sided with the king's opponents in the first and second Frond riots, but also openly declared that they would offer a reward to the Bishop of Mazarin. His head, and every part of his body, they despised the king like an apprentice in a handicraft workshop... There were not many people who looked up to the king at that time, but Sergier had such courage and vision.

He really won the bet. The king not only gave him the position of chief judge of the court of Pontoise, but also let him serve as the head of the embassy to welcome Princess Teresa of Spain to France for marriage. This good gentleman is even more so. I am so grateful and revered to the king that even the Count of D'Artagnan, who is best at eloquent lotus, and Bontang or Mr. Colbert, who can best understand the king's mind, will not crawl even lower. I want him to say even a single sentence. If you go against the king's will, I'm afraid it will be more difficult than ascending to the sky.

  Looking at nothing else, the Marquis of Lois also carefully read the transcript of the interrogation and the evidence submitted, but the chief justice had only one thought-the king said they were liars, so they must be liars! Not to mention Charles II, even if **** Christ came to him, here are his thirteen disciples, he would insist on it!

Therefore, if you bribe this person without authorization, not only will he not persuade the king as you want, but he will even betray you in front of the king. Then things will only become more troublesome and the king will be more angry. Thirteen Enough of the British, not one or two more French.

But the earl would soon be relieved of his worries, and the execution process did not take long. Thirteen corpses were neatly hung on the temporarily erected gallows. Perhaps someone had begged to chop them down with an axe. Their heads, but the punishment of beheading is generally used on nobles. Of course, they do not have this "qualification". Their severed hands were placed under their swaying feet, which quickly attracted a large group of dense flying insects.

   "This shouldn't be all." Louis said as if to himself.

   "There are also twenty-two wizards," Vesalius said. "They entered the Lost Forest, saying that they were looking for the remains of Merlin, and came... to do something."

"Assassination against me, or to confuse some stupid people." Louis said indifferently: "They probably don't know that they are just a fog used by others to divert their eyes." Those people are not in Dunkirk, nor in Canada. Come, or at sea, let alone in Brittany, Charles II was undoubtedly a participant - the so-called secret mission did attract some attention, and it was Ballas who remained in Paris, who was the A ruthless person, although Elaly reminded him that there is a prisoner in the Bastille who needs constant attention, but he has saved people and does not think that this abandoned woman will have any considerable value...

   "Did you find that spell?" Louis said, "Forget it, get in the car."

Vesalius bowed her head, and was honored to be the king's comrade under an envious gaze—Mrs. Montespan gave up her place under the king's icy gaze—with a little guilty conscience, she had absolutely no idea about it. Intervene, she may hate Marie Mancini, but how can someone be allowed to threaten the king?

"The Duke of Colonna and Madame Milady are now searching for records of this spell in Tuscany, Naples, Gayola, etc.," Vesalius said. "Madame Aubigne is seeking help from Rome, Lava Mrs. Liel, the mother of the Duke of Haleb, sent their people to go to Serbia to find clues, and His Majesty Ludwig I, he also collected some priests and shamans..."

   "Is there a general direction?" Louis interrupted him: "It's actually very simple. If I die, whoever gets the most benefit will be the most likely."

Vesalius sighed. The Sun King is in full swing, and he has almost become a symbol of France. If it is said that for the throne, the Duke of Orleans and the Dauphin's Prince Louis are the most unlikely people. Apart from the emotional factor, neither of them can touch them. To the height that Louis XIV can reach, if Louis is really assassinated, no one can suppress the valiant and important ministers under Louis XIV, making those princes and lords bow their heads, and France will only fall into uninterrupted turmoil again. His enemies will take the opportunity to riot and conquest, pushing the vast kingdom into a rotten mire once again.

Therefore, it is most likely that foreigners and opponents of the king are the most likely. Leopold I, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and King Charles II of England, who can be said to be an ally, have almost no longer concealed his love for Louis XIV. The hostility of the Habsburgs, as well as Spain, who were also Habsburgs, after their king Carlos II miraculously recovered, they also began to plan to restore the glory of a hundred years ago, and the Dutch government in exile, And such as Flanders, Lorraine, Alsace and Brittany, although they are called French territories, they are more inclined to Habsburgs, or simply want to be independent... There may be some who perceive Louis XIV is weakening the local power, unifying France, and strengthening the royal aristocracy - such as the former Duke of St. Simon...

There is another, the Roman Church, although the relationship between the current Pope Innocent XI and Louis XIV is not as rigid as it used to be, he even sent his illegitimate granddaughter to act as a hostage and messenger, but he must Speaking of the grievances between the Roman church and the French king, unless Louis XIV is willing to hand over the right to appoint and remove bishops and remove restrictions on the outflow of gold, silver and valuables, the relationship between the church and the French royal family will never be good.

"I hope to hear the exact news before Mary's funeral is over," Louis said softly, but at the thought of the thirteen corpses still hanging on the gallows, Vesalius didn't think the king really." As always", and on the other hand, they don't need any hard evidence, more to avoid the same type of assassination in the future - the enemies after Louis XIV will only increase, not more less.

   "I will, Your Majesty." Vesalius said, "But can you ask a few lords for me?"

  Louis was a little surprised, he even smiled: "Who?"

   "Prince of the blood race."

  ———

Theodoric, Prince of Van Gogh, he was once the king of the Franks, and Paris was his ancestral land, and because of this, he served as the guide and guardian when Louis XIV first came into contact with the world. ; There is another, Prince Amon of Zmich, he is a mad and powerful, not inferior to the blood of Theoderic, but he is interested in the young Louis XIV and intends to develop it He approached the king only as a descendant, and in the process he even nearly killed Louis. Later, because of the need to recapture the ancestral land lost by the Polish King John II Kazimierz - Livonia, he gradually established with Louis. equal allies.

Theoderic was an old-fashioned and restrained man - the blood family. He appeared to Louis at that time because of Amon's offense to the king. After Louis XIV became the Sun King, he continued to shelter Louis' children for a period of time, until he was young. Louis, too, came of age, and he bid farewell to the king—because, for Theoderic, a king and a blood prince were not supposed to be too close.

At the same time, it is also to limit Amon - if he is always around the king or members of the royal family, it is difficult to ask Amon to stay away from Paris or Versailles. Zmich is a member of the demon party who is not restricted by any rules, and he continues to stay in Around Louis XIV, there are all kinds of harm and no benefit.

It is not so difficult to find members of Fan Zhuo. After all, most of the members of Fan Zhuo are in big cities. They are nobles of the night. Some blood clans still have semi-public identities. They have contacts and transactions with mortals, and Louis is around There are many priests and wizards. It is still very easy for the latter to find the blood family. They just need to talk to Prince Vanderbilt. Vesalius is not yet qualified enough.

   But to send a letter to the prince, that's fine.

  Unexpectedly, Prince Theoderic arrived that evening.

   (end of this chapter)