I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 152 Black Death

  Eralio's spell came over again, and the king felt a furry thing brush his cheek, and the cat jumped on his shoulder and licked his face.

The    king closed his eyes and tried to control himself: "What plague?" This time he heard his own voice.

   "The Black Death."

The king's chest suddenly tumbled violently, and he leaned on the arm of the chair, and it was dark for a while: "The Duke of Orleans..." God, this is the first time he has prayed so devoutly, please bless him, bless Philip, hope he is outside, no matter what What is it for... Even if it is captured by the rebels, it will backfire - he hears Era ruthlessly say: "The Duke of Orleans is in the city of Nancy."

The king finally vomited uncontrollably. He had always eaten very little at night, and this time was no exception. There was nothing in his stomach and he couldn't spit out anything, but the huge mental pressure was like a heavy stone. With him, Elarius still wanted to cast the spell, but was stopped by the king: "I'll be fine soon," he said, then pulled out the drawer and took a sip from the small bottle of wine inside: "...that's fine. Now," he gasped slightly, as a king, as a brother, he knew that what he needed most now was calm and decisiveness.

The Black Death is the plague, a severe infectious disease, and its most recent outbreak was three hundred years ago, and people still remember it. From 1347 to 1353, the entire Europa was in the shadow of the Black Death Covered - its origin comes from the battle of Kafa, when the yellow-skinned robbers who were driven here by another powerful empire attacked the Black Sea port of Kafa, because they could not attack for a long time, they would die of the plague The corpse was loaded on a catapult and thrown into the city. A terrible plague broke out in the city. After that, the plague was brought to Italy by Arab merchants, and then spread from Italy to France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries, and then from these places. It spread to northern countries such as Denmark and Sweden, from the former to the Baltic Sea region, and finally to Russia. This catastrophe caused the deaths of 25 million people, almost one-third of the population at that time! The deadliest city was Florence, Italy, where 80 percent of the population died.

According to the records and descriptions of the famous writer Boccaccio, Florence was like **** on earth at that time, and there were dark P letters everywhere... People used this symbol painted on the wall to warn that there were black dead patients here, and they should hide quickly. on, but it didn't work at all - even in the seventeenth century people still didn't know that the plague was brought on by rats, and as long as rats were still running around, the disease would not go away - pedestrians walking on the street They suddenly fell down while walking, and the people at home died silently. Before the corpses rotted, no one knew. Every day, corpses were transported out and dumped in valleys or swamps. People often fall down and die while walking.

Only a few lucky people can escape before being chased by the plague, but it also depends on their identities. If ordinary civilians, they will still be rejected outside the city and manor, the lord's soldiers, and even the humblest peasants. Will kill them without hesitation, as there is a good chance they carry the plague - towns determined to be irreparable will even be burned, or sealed off until all the people inside are dead.

This is the only way people have fought against the Black Death for hundreds of years, there are others - killing black cats, killing pagans, holding masses, atonement processions, etc., always not to destroy other living beings Just praying for God's blessing, Louis knew very well that he should immediately order the blockade of Nancy, but the Duke of Orleans was in Nancy, and he may have been sick - out of selfishness, the king almost ordered Elarius to stop at nothing. The Duke of Orleans was rescued from the plague, but when he looked at Elarius, Elarius just shook his head: "Your Majesty," he said, "We are not omnipotent, or if we can expel the plague, then The Church of Rome would not have weakened to the present day."

This is also a truth. If the church had mastered the method of treating or preventing the Black Death, they would not have been silent until today. There will be countless fanatical believers to remove all obstacles for them. Maybe the kingdom of God on earth is not written in A noun in a book.

   "Where's the wizard?"

"It's the same with wizards," Elalius said. "Our bodies may be stronger than mortals, and we are not prone to the plague, but we have no cure for the Black Death, and we cannot prevent it. Even if we are not prone to the plague, It is not easy, not impossible, if we stay in the epidemic area for too long, we will be approached by death.”

   "Where's the vampire?" the king asked Theoderic, the catboy.

The cat sighed humanely and jumped off the table. A few minutes later, black bat swarms poured into the open window, and Theodoric appeared in front of them. Still reluctantly endured with the king's apologetic expression, "Excuse me, sir, I didn't intend to put you in this embarrassing scene, but the matter is urgent," the king said, "Is it possible for the blood race to be infected with the plague?"

"The blood family will not be infected with the plague." To be precise, sometimes they will spread the plague. Among the thirteen holy artifacts of the blood family, there is something like the rot bracelet. It is said to be the cause of all plagues, and all plagues in the world are It was spread by it, but this way the holy artifact was lost from the owner of the patriarch of the Nophele clan long ago, otherwise the Nophele clan would not have been so contemptuous by other clans - vampires often roam about because of the black death. In cities blocked by disease, where there would be no priests and paladins, they could hunt as they pleased: "But if the Duke of Orleans has been infected with the plague, unless we convert him into one of ours, He still couldn't escape death."

The king did not speak, but just looked out of the dark window. He could almost say that he carried out the reconstruction project of Paris on his own accord. He was worried that the overly dense and dirty city would lead to the spread of the plague. Unexpectedly, Philip, Duke of Orleans, did not suffer from the plague in Paris. , Lorraine, who was a hundred miles away, fell - "I need the current situation of Lorraine." The king whispered: "And the Duke of Orleans."

"I'll let my children go and have a look," said Prince Vandro, and he left the king's study, not even the doppelgänger, and spending so much time with his mortal enemy was enough to make him unbearable. .

  Elarius has always maintained a half-smile expression, only deliberately restrained when the king looked at him: "Your Majesty?"

"If only the Black Death broke out in Nancy, you shouldn't be the one to repay me," Louis said, although his chest was still burning, his mind had calmed down: "What else do you want to tell me? "

   "Your Majesty, don't you think the Church of Rome has become extraordinarily quiet since you besieged Rome?"

   "You mean to say..."

"Yes, Your Majesty, although I can't be sure, but think about it, in whose hands was the blood cup originally held? Bishop Mazarin," he said, "in fact, the Roman Church, which first owned it, once In the transaction, it was acquired by Bishop Richelieu. Of course, for the Roman church, they thought that it was only the right to use it. After all, as a deprivation of income, the inheritance of the priests should belong to the church. Who knows, Richelieu put It was left to Mazarin, and Mazarin left it to you... oh, of course, it was originally, and now it is said to have been returned to the Vampire, in the hands of that Prince Vanderbilt."

"You mean they'll have rot bracelets, too," said the king, his voice very low and weak and unintimidating, but Eraeli knew this was the calm before the storm, which the current king desperately needed All the information related to this, so he is calm, like a hunter waiting for his prey to step into a trap. Instead, he is immersed in a state of ecstasy. After the useless emotions are eliminated, the rest becomes available. Get scared.

"I don't know, but some of our friars have been called by the Church of Rome - it is said that the priests of the Church of Rome are busy preparing for all the things needed for the Mass, not one, but many, more than eleven. From May to May, but, Your Majesty, the Eucharist has just passed, and there are still more than two months before the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Many mass supplies are not resistant to storage, and some merchants are also required to deliver within two weeks. It's strange...whether a king has died recently, or a future king has been born, it can only be said that they presumably expected something to happen at Mass."

   "What good is this for the church." The king asked softly: "They themselves are in danger."

"Well, if only the world were full of wise men like us, Your Majesty," said Era ruthlessly, "but here's the problem, the fear and shame you have brought about have plunged the entire Church of Rome into turmoil and misery. Among them, you also know that for some stupid people, the powerful force may make them cringe, but if it is too much to bear, they will jump up and bite you like a mouse cornered. , as for whether you will be killed by you later, or burned to death, they probably can't think of these - in addition, Lorraine and the Vatican are separated by half of France, one-third of the Holy Roman Empire, a whole of Switzerland and three points. The other Italy, they may think that the Black Death will not reach Rome."

Erael is right, the people of the Roman Church may (they are very suspicious) do not care how many people will die if the Black Death spreads again, but whether it is Louis XIV of France or Leo of the Holy Roman Empire Pod I, or the Federal Council of Switzerland, or Spain, which controls the Principality of Milan, will not turn a blind eye to this, they must do their best, and the Church...

   "The church just needs to pray." Elarius said: "Yes, and they will also accuse certain countries, or a certain king, of taking responsibility for this catastrophe."

"Do they want me to stand barefoot outside Vanosha Castle in a linen robe, begging the Pope's forgiveness?" Louis asked sarcastically, "Perhaps my wife and my children also stand beside me in ragged clothes. ?"

   "That's probably what they want most," Elarius said. "But maybe they want to take back the right to appoint or remove the priesthood and the right to collect church taxes."

   "Do you know when they plan to let this blow out?"

   "Just these few days, Your Majesty," Elarius said, "perhaps tomorrow."

"As long as it's not immediately, we have a solution." Louis stood up with a pale face, "Bontang, go and inform the Queen Mother, the Queen and the Crown Prince, and let them leave immediately for Notre Dame—and Prince Condé, Prince Conti... "He said a string of names of the royal blood princes and dukes.

At this time, it was late at night. It can be said that most of the inner court and the outer court came out, which inevitably aroused people's curiosity. Although many people in Paris could not see clearly in the dark night, the one from the Louvre to Notre Dame On the way, the musketeers and the guards lit continuous torches, like opening up a river of light in the dark night, one after another magnificent carriages, and rare nobles and important officials appeared. , The bell of Notre Dame rang, and Cardinal Lariviere led the priests dressed in holy clothes, holding the Bible and holy objects solemnly, holding candles, and shaking the censer to greet the king. It could not be seen that he was still on the bed of a plump "Famous Shu" when he was pulled up by Count D'Artagnan.

The king entered Notre-Dame and went straight to the center of the church, where this cross-planar building intersects. There are two symmetrical ear chambers, one of which is the altar of the Virgin, on which is the image of the Virgin. It was completed in the fourteenth century, but it wasn't until recently that someone moved the statue from a chapel to the altar of the Virgin, almost as tall as two adult males, on September 5 last year to please the king. , the Virgin embraced Jesus, wearing a crown, showing pity, and at the moment when the king knelt down to her, tears suddenly flowed from her stone-carved eye sockets.

   There was a sudden uproar among the people present, everyone was desperately crossing the cross, crawling down in sincerity and fear, and pressed their foreheads to the icy ground.

  ——

  Before dawn, a rumour spread rapidly from Paris to all directions—that the Virgin came into the king's dream and told him that a great calamity was about to befall the north of France.

For those who are serious or wise, this kind of counterattack is too stiff, but for ordinary beings, they do not need to accept too much complicated news, they only know that there is a holy sign befalling their king and Paris. Notre Dame was enough, and when the first pilgrims came to Paris, the Virgin was still in tears, so the proof is beyond doubt, and the warning heard by the king was confirmed soon after - Nan The Black Death broke out in Tin.

   (end of this chapter)