I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 424 Judas' desperate gamble

"They want the Judahs to be the scapegoats?" said Alberoni in surprise. "How is that possible. No one in the slightest will believe that. If the Judahs can do, I mean, take away Young Christians even stick their tentacles into the palace, and they won't be miserable to a thousand people."

"There are less than a thousand people now." Jose said, he sat down in front of Alberoni's bed, he was about the same age as Alberoni, only a year away from coming of age, when their uncle and teacher Sending them to Carlos II undoubtedly had high hopes, and now it seems that the gain is not worth the loss, maybe this is the price - they don't know how Louis XIV controlled and mastered those wizards, those devil servants, but Patinho , Archbishop of Toledo, Duke Don Juan, and Queen Maria are all missteps.

   It’s just that they don’t have to pay, or they can afford to lose.

"They have already started to execute Judas in the square." Jose went on to say that in order to put an end to Carlos II, Duke Don Juan and others have been busy for several days and nights, and they "cleaned up" the underground part of the Santo Domingo monastery. , the corpses are burned, and the same is true after the lingering "sinners" give a neat blow. They not only have to seal the mouths of the living, but also the tongues of the dead - those scarred bodies will speak on behalf of the victims Besides, how could those punishments that require extremely long time, special tools, and open fields be the masterpieces of the extremely humble Judah?

   In the "confessions" of the Jewish people, all the victims were killed at the Black Mass and then thrown into the sea or burned.

This mansion belonged to the archbishop, and his bedroom was outside the square. Alberoni glanced at Jose and stretched out his hand silently. Jose put his arm around his neck and led him to the bed. Belloni lifted the curtain and saw several stakes standing on the square. The flames were extinguished at this time, but in order to warn everyone and comfort the souls of the dead, those burned to black, crouched and mutilated bodies were hung by iron chains. on top. Below the stake was a black mark, a mark left by grease mixed with soot, and it might take several heavy rains to wash them away.

  Alberoni seemed to hear a few suppressed cries, but it must be an hallucination. The place where the Judas lived was far away, and now they couldn't even walk half a step out of their community.

   "How many people did they execute?"

"More than thirty people," said Jose, returning Alberoni to the bed, who was trembling as if he had an epilepsy, "and many more were in prison, said the Duke of Don Juan, if If the people are still not satisfied, then they will burn more Judah, or impose other cruel punishments, as long as the situation can be calmed down."

"How could they do that?" gasped Alberoni, though, although those were Judas and betrayers of Christ, firstly, they had been converted and were Christians, and secondly, when the king and The archbishop had promised to keep them safe. Now, they bear a terrible crime, and this crime belongs to a devil.

Jose hesitated for a while, and didn't tell him that their King, Carlos II, was quite interested in becoming an executioner. Anyway, the executioner had to wear a mask, and no one knew that he was the king - after all, in the In the basement of the Inquisition, some punishments could not be carried out, such as dismembering the body by five horses.

  Alberoni closed his eyes, as if thinking about something, thinking for a long time, while Jose waited patiently.

"I don't know..." said Alberoni. "It would be a betrayal for our parents, my friend, I don't know if it's okay to do it...but if I do nothing, I You must be remorseful."

"What do you want to do?"

"I have a distant relative who deals in cheese and ham in Toledo, and he has several boats going between Parma and Italy, tell him about it, tell him, if he will help these converts, I will I will remember this kindness."

Jose lowered his eyes. He was a typical Spanish teenager with beautiful black eyes and thick eyelashes: "You haven't even obtained the Holy Order yet." He said: "And if the archbishop knew, he would definitely be angry with you. ."

   "Those Judahs didn't know what happened," said Alberoni, "and if you would, you would, or you wouldn't come and tell me about it."

"Well," José admitted frankly, "it is like this," he said, "Alberoni, the servants around me are arranged by my uncle, but I have a lot of money to use." He temporarily asked There are no people who can be trusted, but he knows that Alberoni is Italian, and since he became a disciple of the archbishop, there are quite a few kinsmen around him.

   "Where did you get the money?"

   "It belongs to Carlos II." Jose said frankly, "He asked me to prepare an army for him, like Louis XIV's standing army, an army loyal to only one person."

  Alberoni's eyes widened: "But didn't he expel you?"

   "But the money has already been 'used'," Jose said contemptuously, "he dare not ask me for it, and I can't let my uncle, your teacher, even the Queen Mother or Duke Don Juan know about this."

  Alberoni obviously wanted to laugh, but now he couldn't laugh, "Can you bribe the officers stationed outside Judah?"

   "He is now a minister under the skirt of a famous Shu." Jose said: "I will go see that lady tonight."

  ————

"So, there are always things in the world that no one can predict." Mrs. Milady said that she had already "conquered" the officer-the Spaniards used Judas as a scapegoat, she was also quite surprised, But it's not surprising to think about it, the Church of Rome wasn't like that during the Black Death? Back then the clergy was there to avoid the prestige of the Church being hit by the inability to solve the Black Death, now it is to avoid shaking Carlos II, no, correctly, the authority of the Habsburgs in Spain…

   A deformed and demented king is bad enough, a deformed and vicious king will bring down the loyalty of the people to the royal family to the lowest point.

The compassion and empathy of these two teenagers is touching. Unfortunately, as the most powerful secret agent of His Majesty Louis XIV, Madame Milady is bound to reveal the whole truth to the world - the future King of Spain must It's Charles Bourbon!

She sighed and got into the carriage, Jose and Alberoni, her actions became much simpler and easier - she knocked directly on the door of the wise man of Judas - in Judaism, the wise man is equal to the priest, of course, On the surface, this wise man was also a convert to Christianity, but he never gave up and let the converts reconvert. He dedicated himself like a saint, and at the same time cherished hope, but when he was young, he was He lost his wife in the riots caused by the plague.

   Since that day he has been doing his best to incite the Judah of Toledo to flee to Algeria or wherever the Jews are kind.

   But there are always people who take luck, like his youngest son, he always said, there is still time, or, for the people of Judah, everywhere is the same.

  …

"who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, and there is not much time left for you," said Madame Milady, straight to the point: "On the feast of the saints, the fireworks will be lit in the square again, after your son. , your grandson and granddaughter will also become a pile of cheap fuel!"

"But what else can I do!?" The wise man shouted, he didn't care anymore, he was wearing the black robe of the Judah, wearing a conspicuous black round hat, the unkempt white hair protruded from the brim of the hat, and the eye sockets were swollen, The iris was bloodshot, "Devil! Take everything I have, if you want to take it away with dignity and look at my pain for fun, then I will say, you did it, you did it! Look!" Ripped off his coat and shirt, revealing his shriveled chest: "Stab! Go here!"

   Immediately, he felt a biting coldness—Ms. Milady's dagger was pointed at his chest, and a tiny pimple appeared on the wrinkled skin.

   He fell silent in horror.

"It seems that you are not so brave and fearless." Milady smiled, she sent the dagger forward, and the wise man instinctively retreated. Before he could react, her two followers had already pushed gently and pushed the dagger forward. He pushed into the room and closed the door

Milady thought the stubborn old man was furious because of his shame, but he just took a few deep breaths and calmed down: "...Facing death and pain, fear is not a sin." His reason also responded a little because of the cold dagger: "Why do Christians come to the house of a Judah, gentlemen, if you didn't come to drag me to the stake, then what did you come to do? "

   "We're here to negotiate a deal with you," Milady said.

"Does anyone really talk to the Judas in good faith?" said the wise man: "If you go to court, every judge and juror will swear that the Judas is a liar, and there will be no proof of this, and everyone will nod, including We ourselves—think the deal you're going to talk to me about must be extraordinary."

   "Yes, but first, I want to tell you the ins and outs of this matter."

   "Is there any reason to put several Judahs to death?"

   "It doesn't need any reason to kill a few Judahs, even a thousand, but the reason behind it is worth investigating."

   "I want to ask first, madam, can the reason behind this change the current result?"

   "It depends on how you do it."

   "We can't even get out of this block."

   "If a buyer can't even come up with the goods, how can they come to negotiate a sale?"

   "Ah, so we turned out to be cargo."

   "Being able to be a cargo, not a fuel, is already a very substantial profit."

   "What do you want us to do?"

   "Do what the Spaniards do not want and cannot do."

"whats the matter?"

   "Destroy their king," Milady thought, "and perhaps his son."

  ———

On the eve of the Feast of All Saints, the Archbishop of Toledo, with the help of two servants, put on a new sacrificial robe, which was covered with gold and silver threads, gems and pearls. During this period of busyness, and the compensation for Alberoni's suffering in the king's secret room, Alberoni may have obtained the holy product a few years in advance - but Alberoni does not seem to be happy about it. , he did not even want to participate in the great procession of the feast of the saints, only to pray in his own room.

The archbishop remembered Alberoni's eyes, and Jose Patinho. This is the disadvantage of young people. They can't bear a little dirt. They don't know how bad this world is. Otherwise, why should there be **** and What about the final judgment? But they were really too young, especially Alberoni, who José only heard about, not like Alberoni - he couldn't see, but he could hear.

   He shook his head sadly, and changed back to his comfortable bedclothes. The sacrificial clothes were solemn and gorgeous, but they were too heavy.

Because of the procession and mass tomorrow morning, the archbishop went to bed very early and drank a cup of herbal tea to make sure his sleep was not disturbed. Shaking woke up, he struggled to identify for a while, only to realize that the person shaking him was none other than Duke Don Juan.

   "Something happened!" Duke Don Juan shouted: "The Convent of Santo Domingo has been breached!"

what! The Archbishop of Toledo found that he understood every word, but he didn't understand the combination... What is the Santo Domingo Monastery being breached, to be honest, if it wasn't for the past, he would have Not so familiar... It's not a matter of a day or two for the Inquisition and the Church of Rome to fall in love.

   "British or French!?" shouted the archbishop, taking off his hat indiscriminately.

   "It's a Spaniard," said the Queen Mother desperately.

  ——

  It is interesting to say that the sin of Carlos II was revealed, and there were several hands pushing it intentionally or unintentionally.

Milady needless to say, she is a skilled puppeteer, Jose and Alberoni are from pure souls that have not been corrupted by power and fame, the wise men of Judah are for the last ray of hope, and a little selfishness ( Milady promises to rescue his two grandchildren first), and the desperate Judah is a last-ditch effort.

It is far better to push a group of Jewish converts who were nominally converted, still incompatible with the Christians of Toledo, and who have suffered great grievances, than to persuade a group of trustees who, despite their doubts, are willing to admit Habsburg rule in Spain Ledo is much easier.

   (end of this chapter)