I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 49 The King's Conversation with the Two Monsieurs D'Artagnan (about potatoes)

  Chapter 49 The King's Conversation with the Two Monsieurs D'Artagnan (about potatoes)

  The king waited until the two Musketeers slowed down and asked, "How do you like the dishes today?"

The two Monsieurs D'Artagnan looked at each other. "Very good," said the older one, as if he had exhausted his share of words for the day in explaining the D'Artagnan matter; "Your Majesty, this is the order An unforgettable meal." Maybe he felt a little thin, and then he added, but he could see that he was a little embarrassed, and the king couldn't help but smile. Such a response undoubtedly gave the young d'Artagnan courage, so He seriously praised the craftsmanship of the king's cook and his majesty's generosity, but no matter what he said, he didn't say what the king wanted to hear, so the king could only nod his head. "So," he said: "I called the two here because I hope they can do an important thing for me."

   Hearing the king say this, Pierre and D'Artagnan raised their heads and listened carefully, not wanting to let go of a single word.

   "Have you all eaten this?" said the king, picking up a soft, round boiled potato from the plate.

   "I have it," said D'Artagnan. "Is it a beetroot or a sweet potato?"

   "To my surprise," said the king, "you have eaten sweet potatoes! I thought it was not a very common food."

At the mention of this, d'Artagnan's face showed the smile that men know: "It was given to me by a worthy lady," he said, squeezing his moustache: " Although there is only a small piece, it is indeed something on the plate of the king or queen." He paused and thought for a while: "But I feel that it is more delicate than sweet potato."

   "I don't think it's sweet potatoes either," said Pierre.

   "Why do you think so?" asked the king.

   "Because I have heard that you served the people of the old town of Hertel with a vegetable similar to sweet potatoes." Pierre said: "It's a potato, right?"

   "Yes," said the king.

   "It's a little unfair," said D'Artagnan, "I wasn't in Hertel at that time."

   "Then let it be a draw," said the king.

   "You haven't said what you want us to do?" said D'Artagnan.

   "This has something to do with the vegetables you eat, that is, potatoes." The king said: "I have about a Marto's potato here, and I want to bring them back to Paris to grow."

   "That's good," said D'Artagnan. "It's so soft."

   "But maybe some nasty thieves."

"Ah, I see," cried d'Artagnan, "you need us to protect these potatoes," and although the job seemed strange and disappointing to him, he cheered up and tried to do what he was willing to do. Obedience: "I will protect them, as long as it is your order."

   "You'll be impeccable."

   "No water leaks, Your Majesty, no one can steal even an ounce of marl from under my sword."

   "But I don't need your impeccable work," said the king, "I want you to spread the word about this as much as possible, and then..."

"Then?"

   "If someone comes to bribe you..."

   "Then they see the wrong person."

   "No, I want you to accept a bribe."

   "How much damage to my reputation."

   "No worse than Mister Bishop's," said the king. "When you accept the bribe, you quietly put the potatoes in your clothes and bring them to those who bribed you."

   "Well, do you want these people to grow potatoes?" said D'Artagnan, "I see, but why don't you tell them directly."

"Of course it's because people's ideas are always weird, sometimes they're very gullible, sometimes they're very stubborn, they're in the way, but they're very interested in rebellion, and if I say to them, go grow potatoes, it's a It can be used as bread, vegetables, and snacks, and it can grow a big bucket in three months. They won't believe it. They are suffering."

   "Is it really that good?" Pierre asked: "But people say it's the devil's apple buried in the ground."

   "Then the devil is a good man," said the king, "he has brought us such good things."

   d'Artagnan laughed at this, while his cousin Pierre gave him a look: "We shall obey your orders," he said, "but I don't know if anyone will."

"Yes," said the king, "I will give you ten gold louis first, so that you can invite your friends to drink and dine in the tavern, and publicize this matter, and then I will give you ten more gold louis every time you go to a town. "

   "Then we can eat well all the way," said D'Artagnan. "And what about the bribes?"

   "That is my reward to you," said the king.

   "Looks like I'm going to do my best," said D'Artagnan, and ate the last potato on the plate.

  ———

D'Artagnan did what he said, and with ten louis de leche given by the king, he immediately invited a few other musketeers to eat and drink in the tavern, using two large écuits for each meal. In a few days, people in the old town of Hertelle knew that the king ate a vegetable called potatoes here, and he liked it so much that he even transported it back to Paris for planting. For this reason, he specially sent a team of musketeers to protect it. it.

Some who had been fortunate enough to dine with the king immediately bragged that in their mouths this odd vegetable was more luscious than beetroot, more tender than sweet potato (though most of them had never eaten it), Lettuce is crispier and has a variety of ways to cook it, as the king said to d'Artagnan, it can be used as a main course or a dish, and as any kind of rumor, to When the king was about to leave the old city of Hertell, the potatoes had turned into the flesh and blood of saints, no longer the devil's apple. After eating them, not only would they not get leprosy, but they could also cure hemorrhoids and coughs. Some people cut potatoes to cover them. On his own wound, the wound no longer bleeds... Some funny words made the king feel unbelievable when he heard it.

But the king's original purpose was still achieved. The night before he left, someone came to talk to D'Artagnan. He thought it was not difficult. After all, it was very common to accept bribes from bishops to soldiers. D'Artagnan actually refused him. When he asked, D'Artagnan said that although this vegetable is delicious and prolific, it has very strict requirements for storage and use - ah, he said so, think Those who want potatoes become more eager, that is, to be complicated, or to be troublesome, otherwise, how to reflect the sincerity and identity of the owner? They were very willing, so the price was mentioned again and again, from five gold louis to a hundred gold louis, D'Artagnan reluctantly hid a potato in his horse's **** and secretly brought it out.

D'Artagnan's behavior is not unreasonable, but his understanding of these nobles is much deeper than that of his cousin Pierre, which is reflected in the fact that the most people are looking for D'Artagnan, and he has not reached the halfway point. , his purse is full, and Pierre only has a few pitiful gold louis in his hand, but Pierre is relieved, after all, he is not D'Artagnan, and he really can't do it. In other words, to do such a thing calmly - but he has nothing to blame for what D'Artagnan did, it was the king's order, and D'Artagnan immediately lent his seven hundred Gold-Louis paid it back, so he is now a man with a lot of money.

They went all the way, taking bribes along the way - although the peasants had boiled their children in pots because of the famine, the lords and merchants were still abhorrently rich, and in the end even the frivolous Dada Niang has taken out a sum of money and asked the quartermaster to hire a lot of people, help them with some work that is not very necessary, and then give them wheat. These people don't even use it to grind it into flour. It turned out to be because they didn't even have enough taxes to collect firewood. Pierre saw it and asked the soldiers to cook the wheat before handing it over to these people.

   These people were all men, and Pierre did not dare to think about what happened to the old man, the woman and the child.

The king is also doing such things, and he does it more extensively and comprehensively. Every time he stops at a place, he erects a cross for the queen mother. Anyone can get a pound of oats. But this kind of behavior is not without harm, that is, the line behind the king is getting longer and longer, it seems to be the case everywhere, people are struggling, but for a living food, whoever gives them food, they Just follow whoever goes.

The queen mother Anne no longer persuaded the king. Among them, the king's majesty gradually became more and more. As a docile woman, she habitually gave in. There was also the channel opened by Colbert and Fouquet, who continued to follow the king's team. , because of the endless supply of wheat and other food, but sometimes she also has to worry about what to do with these people.

   "Put them to Versailles first," said the king.

   "Versailles?"

"Yes," Louis put down the book in his hand: "Father bought 117 acres of land there, enough for them to live in," he thought for a while, "Mother, I want to rebuild a palace there. "

   "For hunting?"

"No, if it's just for hunting, then the pavilion my father left me is fine," said Louis, "but it's too early to say, it's deserted, and when these people get to Versailles, I'll let them level them first. Land, drained swamps, and forests need to be cut down so they can grow wheat or potatoes to feed themselves first.”

  ——

This matter is about the lives of thousands of people, but for the queen mother and the king, it is just a chat before bedtime. When the king's potatoes were only a quarter of Marto, they came to Romey, It was not far from Paris, and they lived here, and just as the cross of the Queen Mother was erected, Abbot La Rivière asked the king for an audience, because the man was very interesting, and the king seldom Rejecting his request, and this time was no exception, he came quickly and introduced a priest to the king.

The priest, apparently belonging to the same family as Abbot Larivière, presented the holy book to the king, the reliquary of pure gold inlaid with precious stones, the hair of the Virgin, and the deciduous teeth of the Son, before he reverently said: The purpose of the visit - to apply to the king for a post of abbot, the monastery belonging to the royal family is not big, the king agreed, but he thanked him and stood there, as if he had something important to say.

   "If you have anything else," said the king kindly, "please say it, as I said, as long as you are my people, you can speak freely in front of me."

   "...and pardon me, Your Majesty," said the priest after hesitating for a while, "I have encountered a very absurd thing."

   "Please speak, I'm listening."

   "We caught a wizard not long ago."

   "It's scary, and then what?"

"He said . . . maybe the devil was speaking through his mouth, which I shouldn't have believed, but your majesty, it's about your honor - I mean, god, majesty, he said he knew you of!"

   (end of this chapter)