I Am Louis XIV

Bishop Mazaran heard the king's laughter in the corridor.

This kind of laughter has not been heard for some days. People with ulterior motives often say that Mr. Bishop treats the king as he treats his own life. This sentence is not without malice, but what these people do not know is that Mr. Bishop really He has a father-like affection for the king. Originally, he didn't want to put the burden of the country on that immature shoulder so quickly, but since the king has repeatedly demonstrated the talent that belongs to a ruler, Mr. Bishop has also begun to be part of it. Slowly let go of affairs—the thing about Alsace is one of his picks, whether the king chooses to give up Alsace, borrow money from merchants, or continue his gambling business, Mazarin will He thought he had a way to end it, but the king's worry and hesitation during this period still made the prince in red feel pity.

Hearing such laughter, and the testimony of the letter transcribed by the spies, Bishop Mazaran could already confirm that the information he had obtained before was indeed true, and he couldn't help showing a little relief.

When the king saw Bishop Mazaran, he asked him to sit beside him. At this time, his smile hadn't even disappeared completely, and the remaining traces made the young king finally have some innocence that a teenager should have. Looking carefree, he directly showed a letter to the cardinal, which was written to him by the Duchess of Montpensier. It could even be said to be a confession, because it described in great detail and Aware of the pain and guilt of the Duchess after leaving Paris, she sincerely asked the king to forgive her and allow her to return to Paris, to the court, and to the queen mother and the king. Nor did the Duke of Gaston, or anyone connected with them, be mentioned as far as the Prince of Condé, much to the great relief of the King and Monsieur Bishop.

Of course, as a good and considerate cousin, the Duchess of Montpensier encloses a draft worth half a million livres, which immediately relaxes the king's tense heartstrings, although there is still a gap, But as long as the financing is right, the rest is just a normal day-to-day business.

"I know that you sent two young people to do this matter," Mr. Bishop complimented appropriately: "I must say that I have always been worried about this, but now it seems that this is completely my worry, Your Majesty, you His eye is powerful enough to pierce rocks a thousand feet deep and bring out shining gems."

"But the one who first pointed them out to me, Monsieur Bishop," said the king modestly, "wasn't it you? They were d'Artagnan and Colbert." D'Artagnan said clearly Bishop Mazarin introduced him to the king, but although Colbert was promoted by the king on purpose, he also passed the test and permission of the bishop.

"Ah, is it they?" exclaimed the Bishop half-truthfully, "I thought I gave you a Luculus (an ancient Roman general), so he turned out to be a Cicero (Ancient Roman rhetorician) ?”

Louis knew that he was talking about d'Artagnan, but when he said this, the king's face became a little strange, and he took out another letter from the drawer—it was not so much a letter as a book. Mr. Bishop took over the notes and flipped through them briefly, only to understand why the king showed such a look, because Mr. d'Artagnan's actions can be said to be completely contrary to morality or etiquette.

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Let's turn back the clock a little bit.

M. Colbert thinks that d'Artagnan has done nothing but enjoy his love and the Duchess's horses, wine and steaks. It is not easy for a duchess' maid to obey her own words. In addition to the money given by the king, he also borrowed three hundred gold louis from Mr. Colbert, and will have the right to see the king After buying nearly 10,000 livres, he finally got the maid's heart. In this case, the next thing became easier. After all, what d'Artagnan wanted to know was not a secret. If he had been at Saint-Fargot long enough he would have known, but what d'Artagnan lacked was time.

If you ask him to say, it is simply not a good deal to be able to buy these time with money.

D'Artagnan knew from this maid that although the Duchess of Montpensier was rich, she didn't know much about her assets and income. She returned to her father when she was a teenager and took over the domain All kinds of affairs are handed over to the Duke of Gaston, and then every year, or when the Duchess needs it, the Duke of Gaston will send her the income—just like not long ago, she wanted to repair St. Go Castle, Duke Gaston immediately sent one hundred thousand livres, and then sent two hundred thousand livres.

But even a maid who is not good at mathematics knows that the duchess's territory should have an annual income of at least 500,000 livres, but after Duke Gaston sent 300,000 livres, there was no further movement , seeing that this year is coming to an end again - not to mention the previous few years, the Duchess has been staying in her own castle, there is almost no place to spend a lot of money, but her savings are still only one million li Foll can't reach it, this number is really terrible.

D'Artagnan asked her, is there no one willing to remind the Duchess?

Maybe, but as long as the Duchess of Montpensier is unwilling to listen, it will be useless to remind her more. In other words, she is deliberately deceiving herself so that she can continue to immerse herself in illusory dreams.

D'Artagnan didn't continue to ask, he also knew that if he rashly mentioned this matter to the Duchess, let alone the task entrusted by the king, it might be impossible for him to continue to live in the castle of Saint-Fargot as a guest. The duchess might entertain herself with a whip and a branding iron, so he immediately went to another man who was in the duchess's favour, and bought him off for a thousand livres.

This person is Jean-Baptiste Poclain, but his other name is more widely known, that is Molière, which means ivy in French, which shows how much he cares about himself and his talent. Unfortunately, his fate was not good. Since he gave up his original "hereditary status" in 1643, that is, the so-called royal attendant and the de facto status of royal furnishing supplier, he and his friends The troupe they formed was not as popular as he imagined—most of the plays at this time were solemn and sacred religious dramas, or low-brow romantic shows, and his scripts were considered too frivolous, even a little He was vicious, so he was never favored by the nobles, until the Duchess of Montpensier came to St. Fargo. Put on some funny little plays.

This made Molière both rejoicing and distressed, but if D'Artagnan hadn't taken out the identity of the king's special envoy, even if there were a thousand Mr. River Moliere, he would not be willing. Performing for the king, his heart could not help but be shaken.

Of course, it was impossible for D'Artagnan to tell the Duchess so bluntly that her father, the Duke Gaston, was an out-and-out ghost. Ashamed, perhaps even angry, he simply asked Monsieur Molière to write a short new play about an old father, who loved money above all else, deprived his daughter of what he had inherited from her mother, And because he didn't want to prepare a dowry for his daughter, he wanted to marry his daughter to an old nobleman. Molière really had a wonderful pen. The greed of the father and the innocence of the daughter are portrayed so vividly that people cry and laugh at the same time, especially at the end, His Majesty the benevolent king personally found a good marriage for the daughter, but the father was forced to Returning the property and dowry that the daughter should have inherited, saying a long, vicious speech to accuse the daughter, and being completely unrepentant about the sins she committed-this made the audience angry again, and they shouted Mo Rière revised the ending, at least the greedy man should be punished, but did not notice that the Duchess of Montpensier had left in a hurry.

What did the Duchess of Montpensier think? The accounts of the whole room, finally came up with an answer that made the Duchess furious and disheartened-her father, while administering the domain for her, made millions of livres for his personal gain, and he used these livres It doesn't matter if he raises his army, expands his territory, lends money or does business, and at the same time the money is spent on his wife, lover and children. This is the most unbearable thing for the Duchess. She is alone in the room After weeping all night, she rode away from Saint-Fargore the next morning, and on the sixth day she brought back nearly 1.6 million livres.

D'Artagnan didn't know how she snatched this good piece of meat back from Duke Gaston's mouth, but the Bishop only glanced at the king and guessed that in the hands of the Duchess of Montpensier, there must be a piece of meat. A lot of it came from the Duke of Gaston. The king wrote down this point in the pamphlet. Of course he hoped that the Duke of Gaston could spend the rest of his life in Blois in peace, but if not, he believed that he could also find a way Retrieve evidence that could prove fatal to the Duke from his cousin.

But before that, the king decided to give d'Artagnan and Colbert the rewards they deserved. D'Artagnan is relatively simple here. He wants Vauban's current position, and Vauban also proposed that he is more willing to serve the king in the present position. Serving on the battlefield, well, as for Colbert, Bishop Mazaran suggested that he could come to his side. In name, he can take care of the finances for the bishop, and the bishop can also take a good look at this ordinary man for the king. young people.

The king agreed, and then he suddenly thought of a question. Although the messenger was faster than them, dArtagnan and Colbert should have returned to Paris yesterday. What delayed them?

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Being a vampire.