I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 161 The Black Death of London (2)

It must be said that the Roman Church had no good opinion of the King of France and the King of England. The former attacked and plundered Rome during the time of Philip IV, kidnapped the then Holy Father and imprisoned him for a long time, and then The church went to Avignon, dominated the church for nearly a hundred years, and then caused the comic scene of the three popes, and the latter, under Henry VIII, carried out church reforms, to put it bluntly, behind a series of parliamentary acts led and supported by the king , is the king's disrespect and arrogance to the church. Although people say that it was Henry VIII's last resort to ensure that he could have a legitimate and orthodox heir, anyone with a little brain knows that Henry At that time, the eighth move was still more of the same old tune, that is, the war between kingship and religious power.

It is stipulated in the Supreme Act of the United Kingdom that the United Kingdom will no longer send a large annuity to the Pope of the Church of Rome every year. The King of England, that is, the Pope of the state religion, has the right to appoint church laws and regulations, appoint bishops, and obtain the highest justice. Of course, the dedication of the bishops and priests to the church was naturally transferred to the king. Not only that, the large assets and land owned by the church and monastery at that time were naturally included in Henry VIII’s pocket. , So, when people in later generations relished the king's affair, behind these rose-colored smoke was the struggle for vulgar money and power.

So this time King Louis of France was not surprised when he heard that the Black Death also broke out in London. Since the Church dared to do this to France, of course it could do the same to Britain, which was almost completely freed from their control, but he did not know How will Charles II deal with it? This young monarch is in a worse situation than Louis was in the first place. Even if Louis was a child, the government was controlled by the Bishop of Mazarin, but even if the Bishop of Mazarin did not give up his power in the end, the king would face There is only one enemy, and the enemies that Charles II has to face are all over the House of Lords. Although it is said that the royalists in the House of Lords occupy half of the people, such as George Munch, Duke of Amalbier, and hope that the monarch There are not a few people who can end the chaos in England and want the monarch to stay quietly in the palace as a puppet, not to mention, there are still some people who think that the monarchy should not continue to survive in England - Charles II was like It is a person who is stuck in a quagmire, and every step takes a lot of energy.

Not to mention, he had quite a few elbows around him, and Louis would often wonder how he would take back his power if he were Charles II—he might turn his eyes to the House of Commons—and Charles II might be doing the same, because He has a better reputation among the people than he has among the nobility, but traditionally the king of England can't even appear in the House of Commons - but it's too hard to win the support of the nobility, Louis knew very well, someone like that, you It's hard to use empty promises or pompous names to get real benefits.

However, the stupidity of the church may be an opportunity for Charles II. The Church of England has been established for hundreds of years, and there are a large number of Protestants in the House of Representatives and the army. They do not recognize the Pope and the Church of Rome, and will never allow it. They are making a comeback, so in this catastrophe, they will stand on the same side as Charles II, but there are still many devout Catholics in the UK. It is said that some pamphlets have begun to be passed around London, and rumors spread more than the plague. Faster, panic - is this God's punishment for England?

What is particularly worrying is that the Black Death epidemic in France at least occurred not in Paris and surrounding areas, but in Lorraine and Alsace. Although Lorraine is not far from Paris, under the crazy suppression of the Duke of Orleans, Paris There is indeed a solid and unshakable iron wall between death and death, but the epidemic in the United Kingdom appeared in London, the capital of the country. "The Duke of York will not do what Philip did." Louis half-jokingly told the Count of D'Artagnan Said that the Duke of York was the younger brother of Charles II. In the early years of the Battle of Dunkirk, he once fought with the Spanish against the British and French forces, but he was a smart person. As soon as he noticed that the momentum was wrong, he immediately jumped on the boat. escaped, so his name is not among the captives.

"How is that possible." Count D'Artagnan shook his head and said that there are now about 600,000 people living in London, with a floating population of 200,000 to 300,000 people. Even if the plague breaks out, starting from the British king, the powerful and wealthy people They have migrated from London to Oxford or the surrounding countryside, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people who have not left. Even though there are more and more houses marked with crosses in chalk, there are always some stupid people who regard their houses, meager possessions or It is work that is more important than the lives of yourself and your family.

And fire has never been a place that can be controlled by humans. London is different from Alsace and Lorraine. The latter two are vast and few people, and the distance between towns and villages is considerable. London is a huge city. Like Paris, people are proud to live in the capital, and they are rarely willing to move out. In some remote places, the houses are as dense and dilapidated as the residential area next to the Paris Red Child Market, and the building materials are even more tattered wood. Lord, well, even if these people are not worthy of the care of the nobles, the palaces, cathedrals and royal tombs of London are like the shining medals hanging on the chest of every British person - those who dare to set fire in London , the judge will not hesitate to sentence him to death, before he is beaten to death by the survivors.

  ———

Count D'Artagnan's assertive words were photographed back in his face a few days later, just as Charles II and the Protestants seemed helpless, and the church-incited crowds began to take to the streets to publicly say mass While marching, holding relics, icons, and shouting for the king, for the Duke of York, and for a number of eminent people, a fire descended on London like a real thunder.

  …

The fire started late at night and, as later people recalled, it first flickered in Pudding Lane, a foolish baker Farino forgot to turn off the oven, because Pudding Lane was the most crowded part of Old London, or the nearby market. The **** dumping grounds, and the poor people's shacks were stretched there, so the fire was out of control. The Mayor of London was notified of the fire in the early hours of the morning, but unfortunately it was Sunday, the day God ordered people to rest, so he dragged the matter to the afternoon of that day, and the fire burned to the banks of the Thames. , even people from as far away as Oxford can see the continuous black smoke.

But under such obvious symptoms, King Charles II of Oxford seemed to be blindfolded by the devil's claws suddenly, together with the ministers in the court, the members of the House of Representatives, and the king's lover, the queen and the queen dowager, In short, all the people watched as London burned until Wednesday, 72 hours in a row, 13,000 houses were burned, and 87 parish churches were burned, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Even the cemetery was not spared, and the corpses inside were like charcoal.

But on Louis's desk, the fire was very strange. First of all, in 65 years, just a few months ago, Charles II warned the mayor of London, telling him to be careful of the gas lamps hanging in the streets and houses, Asking the Night's Watch to constantly shout out candles, fireplaces, and lights while patrolling—although Charles II's edict may not be out of London, it would be maddening to say that the Mayor of London dared to disobey, Since the members of the House of Representatives and the generals in the army are willing to show their loyalty to the king, let alone the intrigues hidden under the splendid surface, they also ask people to respect the king, and a small mayor has not yet defied the king's power.

It is possible to say that he was really negligent, but when people reported to him about the Great Fire in London, he could still tell them that that day was his rest day, and Shi Shiran lifted his hat and went for a walk in the nearby park. , that's quite interesting, isn't he worried that the minister or the king will hold him accountable? That's London! But he did it, righteously.

  If that's not enough evidence, the following statistics are even more telling, the fire raging across London, but only five people died. In such a fire, hundreds of thousands of people can still calmly, under the guidance of the seemingly absent, with their children, the elderly, and pushing a cart full of family properties, they gradually withdraw from London and scattered in all directions. .

   To put it mildly, even if Charles II forcibly evicted all the citizens of London, the number of people who died in the conflict and entanglement would probably exceed the entire number.

Of course, on the contrary, the King and the House of Representatives also suffered great losses this time. London can be said to no longer exist, and tens of thousands of people are homeless. Preliminary estimates show that the fire caused a loss of 10 million pounds. At that time, London The annual income is 12,000 pounds, which means that these losses will take 800 years to recover - people are lamenting that God is too cruel, but this time Charles II stepped up and he donated in the king's name He made a large sum of money, and allowed people to temporarily enter the royal forest, rivers and lakes for hunting and fishing, as well as build huts and live in the king's territory, so that he collected at least 30,000 people at once, and the nobles around him. Important ministers followed suit. From the Duke of York to the humblest Mr. Baron, even if they could not come up with money, they could open up their territories for refugees to temporarily live in.

So people in London suddenly stabilized, even more than when the Black Death was still rampant - yes, the Black Death has almost disappeared, and when people flee London, they don't take cellars and sewers with them Even if these mice hide in the deep underground, they are inevitably suffocated by the high temperature and thick smoke. When they die, the germs attached to them naturally have nowhere to go - even those who died because of the Black Death. The dead were also vanished in the fire and no longer posed a threat to healthy people.

Charles II wrote to Louis again to buy cement houses from him so that he could rebuild London. The letter promised to try to persuade the council to exchange the technology and raw materials with the latest warship blueprints.

   "Is it only Charles II so shameless, or is it every king?" said Philip, Duke of Orleans, jokingly.

  Louis glared at him. Although Philip returned to the king intact, Lorraine and Alsace left him a deep imprint that no one could erase. He left Paris as a carefree and ambitious teenager. Man, when he came back, although he was always smiling, when people couldn't see him, the shadow on his brow was even deeper than that of a seasoned conspirator. It's another thing to send thousands of people to die with their own eyes and hands.

"Charles II is not only shameless," Louis stretched out his hand to Philip, motioning him to sit beside him. In this disaster, in addition to allowing the French king to completely own Lorraine and Alsace as a blessing in disguise, he and Philip The relationship between them is getting closer and closer, and he can now safely hand over the army to Philip, Prince of Orleans, but Philip may have to cultivate for a few months, and the king is also busy with some people in Burgundy and Orleans. Move to Lorraine and Alsace, since those people are not grateful, the king thought, then he will take back his reward. "Charles II is quite cruel," said the king: "The fire of London only caused 5 people died, but that was only the most direct, because of being burned and suffocated," he said soothingly: "And some people didn't make it to the count list."

"who?"

"Black Death." The plague broke out in London for a year. One tenth of the people died in three months. London was not as clean and tidy as Paris is now. There will only be more people infected with the Black Death, but it is not always possible that these people will mysteriously disappear when a fire breaks out. It can only be said that these people who could not run away were burned to death in their own rooms. And in the shack, no one would think of or care about them. Even their relatives and friends, after running out of London, would not dare to admit that they had been in contact with the Black Death.

   Thinking of the letter that Charles II wrote to himself before, those refugees must have been screened thoroughly before they were admitted. Fortunately, the Black Death attacked quickly and the mortality rate was high. It only took a week of isolation to find out.

   "You mean..." The Duke of Orleans squeezed the king's hand.

   "That's right, he's imitating you."

"But that's different!" Lorraine and Alsace, before this, could not really be said to belong to the king of France. To put it harshly, it is not an exaggeration to be an enemy, so Philip didn't have much when burning villages and towns. Pity, but London...that's the capital of England, where successive kings grew up, crowned and lived.

"Don't forget," said Louis casually, "the same people who watched eagerly at the beheading of Charles I. Although Charles II was asked by the parliamentarians not to pursue this matter, his heart must be full of Resentment." Just like he used to be.

   (end of this chapter)