I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 145 Something about Fontainebleau (3)

   "There's no time either," Cleland said.

If anyone who recognizes this werewolf is here, he will definitely be surprised, because in the eyes of many people since the king, Clayland is dead, but he is not. This old werewolf has indeed suffered a lot in the inner world, but In the end, he could kill several strong manticores in a row, which means that he still has a strong desire to survive, but in the short time he spent with the king, he found that all kings in the world are the same, Charlie This is the case with II, who is more merciful than him, but equally calm and rational in state affairs. The latter is still a young man, and Mary is the first girl he likes - poisoned by potions and curses at the same time, his body Weak, and in a world that is completely unfamiliar and full of malice (wizards' attitude toward mortals can be seen from those soulless corpses wandering in the fields), there is only an alien witch who is equally ignorant of the inner world, and the master For the Mancini family, who decided his fate, he was indeed better dead than alive, and even if he was allowed to live, he would have to live as a wizard, not a king.

Seriously, for a split second, Clayland felt that the king faced the same predicament as Charles II, but he finally triumphed in the fact that he had a loyal brother, one who would not be bound by conventions. With a strong mind and a strong and delicate heart, he not only retreated from the inner world, but even inserted a nail into the inner world.

When Kleilan returned to the Serbian werewolves, the werewolves were so excited that they all said that they would return to the inner world to avenge the Mancini family. Cleylan stopped them, not to mention that the future of the Mancini family was even a werewolf. Can also be seen with the eyes, and to say the real enemy, shouldn't it be the ungrateful Charles II? From the very beginning, Clayland had seen it very clearly that his bet against Charles I and Charles II was just a gamble. He lost, so he admitted his defeat, and Louise was the first bet of the Serbian werewolves. For the second bet, Claylan didn't expect anything, as long as the king could ensure the reproduction and survival of their tribe.

"What are you thinking?" Kleilan noticed his daughter's unhappiness, and couldn't help but sighed: "There is no love between you and the king. From the very beginning, your identity was the transaction between the king and the Serbian werewolf. I I think your majesty treats you very well, our werewolf will be only loyal to his army, and you are his closest guard, my daughter, when you are between the beds, no one will care about your skin Whether you are fair, whether your hair is fluffy, whether your lips are soft and red, all you need to ensure is that your teeth are sharp, your claws are sharp, and whoever dares to hurt the king, you must use your bravery and life to ensure He's safe and sound."

   Madame Lavalier turned her head in embarrassment: "Does it mean to you," she said with humiliation: "Am I, as those people say, not worthy of being chosen by the king?"

"What is a lover to a king?" Claylan pressed his forehead in distress. "If it's about glory, who can compare to his generals? As long as you and my clansmen are there, you can be in his relationship with him. You have established meritorious deeds in the expedition of the world, even if you leave this position, you can still have a rich annuity and a fief, I know him, and he is not stingy towards those who have meritorious deeds."

   "A man of merit..." Louise said, "But I'm a woman, father, if I'm still the old maid, it would be great, at least I'm far away from him, and I won't have extravagant hopes."

Clayland showed disappointment. Maybe he did something wrong. After he left the inner world, he decided to hand over the authority of the group directly to Louise, even if it was his selfishness, except that Louise was him. His daughter, and also because of his unwillingness to leave the clan - the habits of werewolves are very similar to those of wolves. If the leader of the wolf group is too old to take on the responsibility of leading the wolf group, he will die in the battle with the challenger. . Either he was expelled, he couldn't stay in his pack, but he could never let go of his pack... In addition to these, there was a subtle reason, that if he came to surrender to the king of France, the king of France would not Be sure to believe him, in comparison, Louise, as a woman, will always be underestimated and ignored.

Now it seems that his assumption is really right. Except for the king, Louise's performance has frustrated him. Maybe he should not agree to Charles II's request in the first place. Although Louise is a werewolf, she has a long-term court life. It has turned her into a puppy who will only wag its tail and beg for mercy.

"You can't, Louise." He had to remind: "The children born by werewolves must also be werewolves." So it is possible for wizards to live incognito in the surface world, but the werewolves can only escape into the forest, among the clansmen. Looking for a future spouse.

"I can hide it." Louise said bitterly, of course she knew it was dangerous and almost impossible, but...she was like someone who could only watch others feast on a big cake Child, suddenly one day, the owner of the cake brought her to the table and told her that she was also qualified to sit here, but at the same time, she could smell, see, and even touch this fragrant cake, but it was absolutely not. can eat.

   For a person who is full, a little fine food will satisfy her, but for a person who is starving to the present, it can only be an appetizer.

Of course Louise could see the disappointment in her father's eyes, "I'm leaving." Clayland said, "I hope you'll be more awake next time I see you."

   He now only regrets letting Louise act as the middleman. Now that he reappears, he is afraid that the entire tribe will be expelled from France by the king, but Louise's situation makes her even more worried.

  ———

The strangeness of Madame Lavalier certainly attracted the attention of some people, but even the most imaginative people would not have thought that the king would dare to put a werewolf by his side. The king was busy with Philip and Princess Henrietta. The marriage negotiations consisted of little thought except dancing with Madame Lavalier at the ball, and occasionally sharing a bed with her innocently.

Fortunately, after a few weeks of tug-of-war, Princess Henrietta's dowry was finally settled. Compared with other princesses who became queens, Princess Henrietta's dowry was a bit poor in terms of money, only 100,000 livres. And a large part of them are utensils and furniture. Louis suspects that Charles II has collected and picked out the furnishings in the castles and palaces that are about to be abandoned before he completes these things. There are no castles or territories... This is not Strange, the main event is the ship designer, boatman and naval officer requested by Louis. Of course, these are impossible. Even if the Duke of Albimar suddenly becomes senile, it is impossible. Compared with another distant empire, there is no country in Europa that will not Understand the importance of technical secrecy, and it is difficult to say how long the good relations between Britain and France can be maintained.

Although Charles II was pro-French, almost all of them were anti-Frenchists in the parliament, and look at how King Louis of France treated his father-in-law Philip of Spain. Those series of skillful and despicable means, Even George, Munch may not be able to do it... Probably this young king has thought about this for a long time, so that as soon as the situation developed in the direction he guessed, he immediately let Spain and Rome taste the bitterness. .

Although in the letter, Charles II intimately referred to him as a brother, and King Louis of France also graciously called Charles II his most credible friend, everyone knew that they really handed over British shipbuilding technology today, The next year you can see French warships swimming around the La Manche Strait.

But Princess Henrietta's dowry was really too thin. The members of the parliament were unwilling to pay, so they had to give things. In the end, the Duke of Albimar wrote no more than a dozen angry letters, and finally got 30 ships from the country. The Calais race boat is used as the princess' dowry. It should be mentioned here that it is the Calais race boat, not the Calais boat - the Calais boat was originally a commercial galley used by the Venetians to carry expensive goods (spice, silk). Like its purpose, this kind of ship has a large load and a bulky shape, but later because the Ottoman Turkish Empire gradually became stronger, the Mediterranean trade shrank again and again, and the war continued, the Venetians turned this galley into a warship. .

But then artillery quickly replaced the sword and became a powerful weapon in naval battles. The Calais ship, which was not suitable for installing artillery, suddenly became a tasteless chicken rib. Whether it was Venice, Spain, or the United Kingdom or the Netherlands, all began to The construction of large sailing ships, also known as Galen warships, this light but much more stable warship has won praise from many officers as soon as it appeared. Compared with the original Calais, it is faster and has Narrower and longer (important in this age of broadside mounted guns). The center of gravity is lower, that is to say, it is not easy to roll over when turning sharply. In the familiar battle of Preveza in 1538, the Venetians used Galen warships against the Calais fleet of Ottoman Turkey. , a Galen warship was able to resist a dozen Ottoman Galai ships and still not fall, until the Turks were forced to help, igniting their squadron flagship and rushing towards this giant fortress at sea, and finally destroyed it.

After that, all countries began to vigorously develop giant sailboats. Except for Galen, Calais is an upgraded version of Calais. However, unlike the lightweight Galen warships, Calais relies on sails even more than Calais, because It is heavier and bigger than Calais. Like the Galais in Princess Henrietta's Dowry, each ship has a displacement of more than 600 tons, and it can carry several times the crew and artillery of a traditional Calais ship.

Of course these ships could not have arrived in France so quickly, but their models and drawings had already been delivered and hung in the King's study at Fontainebleau, which Philip the Duke of Orleans visited almost every day—from these Galais On the model of the ship, it can be seen that those artillery pieces are basically at the bow and stern, and there are not many broadsides. Each boat carries about 40 to 50 pieces of artillery pieces. Viscount Turenne, who once served in the Netherlands Explained to the Duke and King of Orleans that the tactics of the Calais boats are very simple. Generally speaking, when the enemy encounters, these warships first attack with artillery, and then rely on their huge bodies and metal rams to hit the opponent's hull. , and finally dispatched a large number of soldiers on ships to give the enemy the final blow - this tactic was invincible in the 16th century, but it was somewhat incapable in the 17th century. Most of them are as the king has seen before. There are as many as three decks, and the sideboards are densely populated with artillery muzzles. The number of artillery pieces is basically seventy to eighty giant galleys. In most cases down, they will be sunk before they can get close to the enemy.

The king had some ideas about these clunky Calais boats, but it wasn't the time to say it - and, Louis thought, don't let Philip read the letters from the spies, he'd be angrier if he read them, Because almost all of the Galais ships the British gave them needed a good repair before they could go to sea... They obviously wanted to use France as a new dumping ground for garbage.

   The most pitiful thing is that France now lacks even "garbage".

"This is already very good." Louis comforted Philip and said: "The British can't always give us the best warships." This is a matter of course, even so, the British parliamentarians are accusing the Duke of Albimar of betraying the country, presumably After he went back, he had to fight openly and secretly with a group of people to ensure his own life and honor - starting from Admiral Hyde, the parliament has been **** for tat with the king, in short, they are against what Charles II approves, and what Charles II opposes. I agree.

This also gave Louis a warning. No matter when, dictatorship will be criticized, but sometimes, dictatorship is necessary. Although it is a bit shameless to say this, these are for his country, his mother and brother, his The people, and himself, Louis will never back down in this battle, no matter what kind of enemy he will face.

  ———

Now that the marriage has been decided, a grand banquet is indispensable. This banquet cannot be held in Fontainebleau, but only in the Louvre. Many nobles, courtiers and messengers gather together. On such an occasion, the king and queen are the sun and the queen. The moon, Madame de La Vallière is not even the brightest star - this honor belongs to the Prince of Orléans, and Louise, feeling oppressed by the sight of people, barely takes a small step with the king After the dance, she left the hall. It must be said that she felt pain when she was in Fontainebleau, and now she can't bear this kind of torture. She... obviously has become a royal lady, and has become recognized, The king's lover, but after removing the superficial exaggeration, what people see is the crude handmaiden - although the king tried his best to disguise, but there is really no stupid person in the Louvre.

   (end of this chapter)