I Am Louis XIV

In addition, there are letters from several reliable people to Luyter. Luyter opened the brass letter box, knocked on the table, poured out the letter, and said: "I hope there will not be too many So much bad news."

He opened the tightly rolled letter paper, and there was not much content in the letter—from a Dutch businessman in Rochester, England, who was still in London, but his letter said with lingering fear that he was almost involved in a riot , lost his life, and now he left his colleagues and friends, and ran to Rochester alone... He asked Luyter how the situation in the Netherlands is now, and if possible, he would like to return to the Netherlands from Dover, see here, Ley Te sighed bitterly. He had a good relationship with this businessman friend, but when he sat down and wanted to reply a text message to the businessman telling him not to return to the Netherlands, he suddenly thought of something: " Who sent this letter?" He cried, "Send him to me at once!"

The messenger was immediately brought to Luiter: "Are you from Rochester?" Luiter asked.

"Yes." The man replied nervously.

"Are you an Englishman?" asked Luyter, which immediately alarmed the man, who of course knew that England and Holland were now enemies: "God bears witness," he wailed, "I'm just a poor wretch, a servant." , not a soldier, nor an official, I have no interest in the relationship between countries, I am just a servant who is very loyal to my master, sir, my master asked me to deliver a letter, saying that you will never hurt me!"

"I won't," said Luiter, "but you're going to tell me what riot your master got into in London and had to flee to Rochester?"

"I don't know too well," the servant said tremblingly, "You know, there are always some people who are arguing, arguing, and restless, and the councilors are always at odds with the nobles, saying that our king is a Idiots, traitors, there are always parades in the streets, I've been to it twice, but I thought it was a saint's day parade..." He was rambling, and Luiter's first officer was getting impatient. But Luyter was just silent, listening patiently, and he could only hold back. Finally, he talked about what Luyter was interested in: "That night, sir, my master and I were sleeping, and I suddenly heard There's a commotion outside, guns are being fired, guns are being fired, loud noises, shouting, the same thing, of course, sir, I don't think they're telling the truth, they're killing the king I said that at the time, and now... Anyway, my master immediately ordered me to close the door and close the windows, of course, I closed them, I just, I mean, we re-secured them and dragged them again. Furniture blocked the door, but it didn't help..."

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "It's useless, sir, someone knocked on the door before dawn, and it was very loud, my master said, except for a law-abiding businessman and a stupid servant , there is nothing that will harm people, but they don't believe it, and they say that if we don't open the door, they will throw torches in." His eyes rolled up, as if still on that terrible night, "They almost I did, sir, I was terribly afraid, but we opened the door, and as soon as it was opened, they rushed in, searched, stabbed with swords, stabbed with torches--I have two beautiful clothes, and they were burned Yes, there are several small black holes." He swallowed, "They also took away the master's money and jewelry, even so, they didn't think it was enough, they almost killed my master...I, fortunately, my The master said right away that he could give them more money ... I mean, bills and securities and all, and they took it anyway, God forbid, that was a bunch of robbers."

"Did you see their faces? Did you see what they were wearing?" Luitt pressed.

"So what?" said the servant. "I don't know any of them, sir; as for what they were wearing, I think they were well-dressed, with white trousers, and blue or black coats."

"Blue or black?" the mate couldn't help asking.

"You know, it was night, and we only had one candle at most, and all I can say is that it was a very dark color, and I say blue because when one of them was near my master, his The front is illuminated."

"Think about it then," Luitt said. "Is there anything else that impresses you?"

The servant was silent for a while: "I'm not sure, sir, I'm not sure."

"It doesn't matter," said Luyter. "I just want to know everything, even the smallest and most indeterminate." He produced a shiny gold guilder. "An answer, a gold coin."

The servant gasped eagerly, his eyes were almost glued to the gold coin and he couldn't take it off, gold coin can indeed make an excellent doctor, he immediately remembered many things, like the awl fixed on the musket of the soldier who broke into the room The daggers of the soldiers, and the buttons of the coats of the soldiers are all silver, like the shape of outstretched petals, and the officers who accept bribes have beautiful metal tassels on the shoulders, etc. At the end, he paused and said: "And , sir, I think I hear them speaking French."

"French?"

"Yes, sir, I don't know French, I haven't even been to school, but I work in pubs and they say..." He went on to say something odd, not French, not English, more like Some kind of local dialect, "A French sailor said so, and another sailor got into a fight with him. I later heard that was a very profane and obscene remark."

"I see," Luit said, "Well, this is an answer." He put a gold coin in the servant's hand, "Is there any more?"

"I can't think of anything more," said the servant lamentably, "I was horrified that night."

"Think about it again," Luiter said, "Don't forget, one answer, one gold coin."

The servant swallowed and was led down. Luyter looked at the first mate, his eyes were shining: "Do you understand?"

First officer: "What, sir?"

"This servant is the real letter," said Luiter. "My good mate, my friend only said these words in the letter to prevent him from being intercepted by the English or the French." In other words, this man's tongue is the real secret letter, and he told me everything my friend wanted to tell me."

"I'm still a little unclear, sir."

Luyter laughed from the bottom of his heart for the first time in a year: "The French are in London, they're involved," he glanced at the note paper: "The riot, but I think it's very There could be a Restoration, I mean, a Restoration of the King's rights, Charles II was forced to reconcile with his subjects, but he never gave up the pursuit of Kingship and the 'rebels' Hatred, of course, is true of all kings, but of course his subjects are well aware of this, so his ministers and councilors not only do not allow him to have a standing army, but also do not allow him to have his own territory and money, Not only can the royal family’s expenses not be withdrawn from the treasury, they even need to be confirmed by the Congress before they can be transferred. This is a shame for Charles II, but now,” he took a deep breath: “Now I’m afraid that London will The world has changed."

"Do you mean that the French sent troops to help Charles II?"

"Yes," said Luiter, "those people are French, and their coats are the royal blue of Louis XIV, so in the dark they look like black, in the light they are blue, and their buttons are not flowers , is the sun, and the metal tassels are the tassels hanging from the epaulettes..." The first mate listened attentively, while he kept thinking, "Then what do you mean... Oh God, do you mean the fleet?"

"There is an ocean between France and England. Louis XIV can only use ships to send troops, and they..." Luiter looked at the first mate: "If they want to contain or even destroy us, they will inevitably form a combined fleet, but Before officially going to war with us, this fleet first went up the Thames and went straight to London, helping Charles II obtain real rights, so that they don't have to worry about the British Parliament and the Netherlands during the war-" He showed a hint of sarcasm: "After all, the British fleet can't even beat a merchant fleet. I think those congressmen must have started to hesitate a long time ago."

"So!?" The first mate exclaimed. The reason why the British Parliament is confident is that Charles II does not have an army of its own. But if Louis XIV is willing to take action, then Charles II should have obtained the rights that any king should have. It can almost be said to be bad news for the Netherlands, because no matter what the cause of Charles II, it is impossible to negotiate peace with the Netherlands-the Netherlands can only give up its own colonies, routes, etc., but if the alliance between Britain and France can achieve the expected Goal, they can carve up the mainland of the Netherlands.

"No, we still have a chance!" Luit jumped up from his chair, "Didn't you expect that? The riot happened three days ago, and we haven't seen the shadow of the United Fleet on the sea yet, and from the French From Calais or Dunkirk to London, and stopped for these days, those fleets must ensure sufficient supplies before departure, they may still be in England, in a certain port, or in the bay!" He said in the small He waved his fist in the cabin: "Let me show them some color, let Charles II know that his ministers are afraid of me, and there is no reason for it!"

—————

Charles II slept his best sleep since January 30, 49, after his father was beheaded. When he woke up, he felt very comfortable and relaxed. He stood up, with the help of his servants. Putting on a silk dressing gown, he yawned at the window. Before having breakfast, he went to take a bath in the small living room that was newly opened as a bathroom. This is also a fashion passed down from Paris, only today Before, he didn't take baths very often, because bathing was a very expensive thing-but, haha, now he is England, England is him, and he no longer needs to count the gold coins in his hand to live.

Charles II soaked in the fragrant bath water and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling. To this day, he still feels a little bit like a dream. The things that weighed on his body and heart like a heavy boulder How could he be moved away so easily? Just for one night, he was a real king? A king who can issue decrees and build an army as he pleases without looking at anyone's face? A dictator who controls the fate of the entire country and its people? Thinking of this, he couldn't help laughing.

His smile was always on his face, until when he was eating, he suddenly had an idea, "I want to go back to Whitehall Palace." He said: "Move the meals there together, and I want to eat while looking at the square." .”

This request was immediately obeyed, but the queen of Charles II didn't quite understand: "Your Majesty," she asked gently, "is this room not good? We can change the room, I'm afraid Whitehall Palace can't sort it out." A suitable room."

"It's okay, it's just a morning." Charles II said gently, stretching out his hand to stroke her swollen belly, "When I come back, my dear queen, wait for me with my son, but don't delay the meal .”

The queen had to obey. Another reason was that she also guessed what Charles II was trying to do.

Part of Whitehall Palace was burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1998, and they had no money to repair it. They could have moved to Hampton Palace long ago, but Charles II did not agree for some reason. The riots a few days ago, no, during the king's trial of the traitor, Whitehall Palace caught fire and completely destroyed, they moved to Hampton Court Palace, as to why Charles II dined in the ruins ...

After all the fuss of his servants, Charles II was at last seated in a small room facing the square at Whitehall Palace, his table covered with sumptuous food, seen through the slanted window frame concealed by draperies , you can see a huge execution platform, and this execution platform... was exactly what Charles II had planned in his mind ten years ago.

When Charles I was executed, Charles II was still in the Netherlands. He did not witness the terrible scene, but now he can almost imagine it, because the scene on the square has overlapped with that of 48 years, and the people gathered in the square , beaming with joy and elation, perhaps, to them, it doesn’t make any difference whether to execute a king, a protector, or a minister, a general, a thief, or a mistress, as long as they are bloody Dead bodies will do.

When Charles II came here, he was still eager and looking forward to it, but he really saw the fanatical people and those ministers who used to be invincible in front of him, but now they are in a state of embarrassment and look sluggish... He felt a little bit Lost interest, but this lack of interest will not affect his appetite and the original plan.

He started to eat, and those once extremely noble heads were rolling down from the execution platform one by one...