I Am Louis XIV

Nicolas Fouquet was the third person the king saw in this room, but unlike the previous two gentlemen, Fouquet was still just a supervisor, a "cloaked nobleman" who was despised by "sword nobles", but He didn't think there was anything to be ashamed of. The difference between them was that one served the king with the sword, and the other served the king with the mind. Speaking of which, he felt that his ability was higher than those fools, although he Didn't dare to claim that.

When the king saw Fouquet, he was more casual. He only wore loose pajamas and a fox fur robe over the pajamas. The rich fur made the young king even thinner. When he met Fouquet, he only wore Pointing the quill to the bench that had been prepared, Fouquet bowed, lifted his coat, and sat upright on it. The king finished writing the letter before putting down the pen: "Would you like something to drink?" ?”

"If you can," Fouquet said, "a little hot chocolate, it's freezing cold."

"Two glasses of chocolate," the king said to Bontang, "and some whiskey for M. Fouquet's." He took a deep breath, he didn't understand why at first, but soon he guessed the reason, heck, it's probably like when people realize that they are about to have a heavy burden on themselves, he will definitely take a deep breath, rich Kai is a shrewd person. It has been a week since he came to Hetel, and he has seen everything he wants to see, and what he wants to know cannot escape his ears. He must know that the king... is about to run out of money.

When they escaped from Paris for the first time, because they were too hasty, the royal family didn't even take away too much money, so that when they were in Saint-Geren-Laye, even the daily expenses were stretched, so the second time they left Paris At that time, Louis urged his mother and the bishop to make early arrangements. They took away all the movable property that could be taken away, even some sacred objects, so they came all the way. Although the famine was everywhere, the king's situation was not embarrassing. , even the cost of a royal family is completely incomparable with an army, not to mention that the king has been supporting General Schomberg to gather refugees and let him train them to enrich the army. Not long ago, Viscount Turenne He surrendered to the king with his 3,000 soldiers, and the king didn't seem to want to send them away.

The king may have summoned General Schaumberg or Viscount Turenne for political or military reasons, but the only reason he summoned Fouquet was money.

Fouquet went to look for wheat for the king this time, and it can be said that he was doing a loss-making business, especially those muskets, artillery and two three-masted ships that were converted into warships. However, the commissions for ships, gunpowder and sailors all come from Fouquet’s personal pockets. For this, he even sold his old house and let his mother, wife and children move to the countryside. It is because of this that he is desperate, if the king wants him to continue to collect money for him, can he refuse, no, of course not, even if he doesn't spend much time together, but he has already seen it. This little king has an unusually good memory. If he dares to let go of this, the king will not only remember him, but maybe even the surname Fouquet will be firmly remembered in his heart.

This kind of thinking can't help but make Fouquet anxious and distressed. He only hopes that the king can either give him more time, or give him more manpower, or give him more power. He has already cheated everyone. A businessman who he could deceive, as well as some ignorant villains in the territory, in order to avoid them, he dared not even leave the castle these days. All this money, as well as the "Polegin" he should have paid to the king, have all been invested in the bottomless pit of military expenditure, and it seems that it will continue to be invested.

"Mr. Fouquet," Louis said affectionately, watching him tense up immediately with amused expression, as if he was about to jump up and run away at any moment: "I called you here to reward you," he said, "because The work you did for me before, and what you did so perfectly, even exceeded my expectations, really filled me with joy."

"This is my duty," replied the ambitious gentleman, "your rewards will only make me feel guilty, because I am not as good as you say." His words were humble, but the king When his eyes fell on his hand, he found that the pale hand was constantly pinching back and forth, which was a sign of emotional tension. He was not as calm as he said, but on the contrary.

"Please come here." Louis said, and Fouquet immediately got up and walked over. As soon as he approached, the symptoms of intense emotions became more obvious. His black pupils shrank obviously, his lips were dry and cracked, and fine sweat was printed on his forehead Zhu, when he saw the king reaching out to open the drawer, he even held his breath.

The king pulled out a rose from it, and pinned it on Fouquet's collar.

The always confident and complacent gentleman was stunned.

He looked at his collar, then at the king's smiling face, and couldn't help showing aggrieved emotion on his face, "God," he complained, "I don't expect a big Diamond brooch, but even a shoulder strap, is His Majesty stingy with rewarding me?" Although roses are only available in the conservatory at this time, he is not Miss Mary Mancini, or Henry Princess Etta, what does it mean to him?

"Why," said Louie, "you saw those diamond brooches, too."

"No," Fouquet said, "in such a cold weather, the two generals got up at five o'clock in the morning and didn't go to bed until twelve o'clock in the evening, just to let more people see their diamond brooches. It's like the sun, it's hard to open your eyes, I think even a blind person can see it."

"Of course," said Louis, "because not so long ago they were pinned to my mother's shoulders, and my father, His Majesty the King, gave her a set of diamonds for my mother's birth, These are the two most precious pieces in it."

"My God!" Fukai was really surprised at this moment: "Did the two generals know about this?"

"Of course I don't know." The young king made a grimace suitable for his age: "It's like they didn't know that I gave them the diamond brooch because I couldn't get the reward."

"Has it reached this point?" asked Fouquet.

"At this point," Louis opened the drawer, "every one of my boxes is as empty as you can see, and even St. Francis who talks to the birds is not as poor as I am." Then he Seeing Foukai lowering his head, he seemed to be calculating something: "What are you planning?" He asked curiously.

"I'm calculating how much money I can get for you," said Fouquet sincerely. "At the very least, I want to send you back to Paris."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult."

"It's hard, Your Majesty."

"Then I have a suggestion for you."

"I'm listening."

"Go and borrow some money from others."

"I'm going to do that."

"But you never know who to go to."

"who?"

"Bishop Mazarin."

This candidate really surprised Nicolas Fouquet, his heart sank like a stone, because he was worried that he would be involved in the struggle between the young king and the bishop.

"I have already written a letter," said Louis. "I want a trustworthy person to take the letter to Liege and give it to Monsieur Bishop, and ask him to borrow half a million livres."

"That's a lot of money."

"Believe me, to Mr. Bishop, this is just a drop in the bucket, after all, it is only one-fifth of his embezzlement from the Navy military."

Fouquet only felt a pain in the tip of his tongue, but now he doesn't have to worry, because he has truly become a knife in the king's hand.

"What are you hesitating about?" Louis asked. "Do you think Monsieur Bishop will be upset by this?"

"Does he still feel happy about it?"

"Why not." Louis said calmly: "After all, he is based on what his teacher, the Bishop of Richelieu, once said, 'My first purpose is to make the king noble, and my first purpose is to make the king noble. The second purpose is to glorify the kingdom.' I think you have read this sentence, well, take this letter, if he asks you something, you answer it truthfully, if he really wants to obey his instructions to me Keep those promises you made, and he'll lend you the money."

Fouquet took the letter, and it burned into his heart like a red-hot iron.

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"It's too risky for you to do this." When the Queen Mother heard about this, she said to Louis like this: "Why don't you tell him what we have already negotiated, and let him be happy and happy?" How about carrying out this task? If he fears the anger of Mr. Bishop, destroys the letter and runs away, or hands the letter to other people with ulterior motives, then what should we do?"

"Then he won't have my confidence anymore," said Louie.

"But not everyone can stand such a test," the queen mother said.

"But I have a very important thing to do with someone who is trustworthy and good at dealing with financial problems." Louis said, kissing his mother's hand: "If Fouquet can't, then I will go to the second Where's—Mary?"

Queen Mother Anne knew that this was a signal that the king intended to end the topic. Louis was almost fourteen years old, and it was also the recognized age of majority. She originally wanted to hold a ceremony and a banquet for him in Hertel, but because of Viscount Turenne's Surrender, she thought that they should be able to wait until they returned to Paris, but now it seems that they may still have to hold the ceremony in Hetel - she also knows that the king has no money now, otherwise Louis XIII would not be The gift given to her (although it was only one of the suits) was given to Louis so that he could reward the two generals-although she was not politically sensitive and knew nothing about military affairs, she still knew that before leaving, First of all, a large salary must be paid to ensure the loyalty of the soldiers.

"Mary is in her room." The queen mother said, although Mary is her maid in name, no one would really let such a young child serve the queen mother, and Mary is often with the king , people often whisper about it, but as long as Mr. Bishop, the queen mother and the king don't say anything, Mary's status will only be more noble, not lower. From this point of view, her room is getting closer and closer to the queen mother and the king It can be seen that the layout is getting more and more gorgeous, and the food and water are getting more and more abundant.

When the king pushed open the door, Mary was jumping up from a crystal ball, frantically pulling up a piece of black velvet to cover it, she was relieved when she saw that it was the king: "You should knock on the door " She said angrily: "I almost broke it, it is not so easy to get such a crystal now." And it is also expensive, even the little witches feel sorry for the expensive ones.

Louie closed the door behind him. "It was my fault," he admitted. "Did you find him?"

"Found it," said Mary, drawing the King to sit beside her. "Concentrate," she said.

The king did as she said, and the first thing he saw was a thick fog, "I can't see anything."

"Don't talk," Mary's voice seemed to come from a distance: "Close your eyes and think about the face of the person you want to see."

So the king closed his eyes, and he imitated the image of Nicolas Fouquet in his mind. He was the same age as General Schomberg and was born in 15 years, but unlike the general, he looked beautiful, A gentle and kind man with no beard, slender and white fingers, the only downside is that the hair on his forehead is a bit sparse, so he combed his bangs as neatly as possible, he always likes to wear a black coat, Then the translucent shirt collar was turned out, and the sleeves were also rolled up, forming beautiful wrinkles.