I Am Louis XIV

"They want the Judas to be the scapegoat?" Alberoni said in amazement: "How...is that possible? No one with any sense would believe it. If the Judas can do it, I mean, Zed Take away young Christians, and even extend their tentacles into the palace, and they will not be miserable until there are only a thousand people."

"Now there are less than a thousand people." Jose said, he sat down in front of Alberoni's bed. He was about the same age as Alberoni, only a year away from adulthood. Sending them to Carlos II undoubtedly had high hopes, but now it seems that the gain is not worth the loss, maybe this is the price-they don't know how Louis XIV controls and masters those wizards and devil servants, but Patini O, the Archbishop of Toledo, Duke Don Juan, and the Queen Mother Maria all made mistakes.

It's just that they don't need to pay any price, or they can afford to lose.

"They have already begun to execute the Jews in the square." Jose went on to say that in order to finish Carlos II, Duke Don Juan and others have been busy for several days and nights. They "cleaned up" the underground part of the Santo Domingo Monastery , the corpses are burned, and the same is true after the lingering "sinners" give a sharp blow. They not only seal the mouths of the living, but also the tongues of the dead-those scarred bodies will replace the victims. Speaking, apart from other things, how could those punishments that required an extremely long time, specialized equipment, and an open space to complete be the masterpieces of the extremely humble Judahs?

On the "confessions" of the Judahs, all the victims were killed during the Black Mass and then thrown into the sea or burned.

This mansion belongs to the archbishop, and his dormitory is outside the square. Alberoni glanced at José and stretched out his hand wordlessly. José put his arms around his neck and led him to the bed. Alberoni Belloni lifted the curtain and saw several stakes standing in the square. The flames had already been extinguished, but in order to warn everyone and comfort the souls of the dead, those scorched, curled and mutilated bodies were still hung by chains on top. Below the stake is a black mark, which is the mark left by the oil mixed with carbon ash, and it may take several heavy rains to wash them away.

Alberoni seems to have heard a few suppressed cries, but this must be an illusion. The place where the Judahs live is far away from them, and now they cannot even step out of their community.

"How many people did they execute?"

"More than thirty people," said José, sending Alberoni back to his bed, who was trembling as if he were suffering from epilepsy, "and many more are in prison, Duke Don Juan said, if People are still not satisfied, then they bring out more Judas and burn them, or do some other cruel punishment, if it can calm things down."

"How could they do that?" gasped Alberoni, although, although those people were Jews, betrayers of Christ, first of all, they had converted and were Christians, and secondly, when the king and The archbishop has promised to guarantee their safety. Now, they bear a terrible charge, and this charge belongs to a devil.

Jose hesitated for a moment, but didn't tell him that their majesty Carlos II was quite interested in becoming the executioner. Anyway, the executioner had to wear a mask, and no one knew he was the king—after all In the basement of the Inquisition, some punishments could not be carried out, such as quartering.

Alberoni closed his eyes, as if thinking about something, for a long time, while José waited patiently.

"I don't know..." said Alberoni: "It would certainly be a betrayal to our parents, my friend, I don't know if it's okay to do it...but if I do nothing , I will definitely regret it."

"what you up to?"

"I have a distant relative who sells cheese and ham in Toledo. He has several boats going back and forth between Parma and Italy. Go and tell him about this. Tell him that if he is willing to help these converts, I will I will remember this kindness."

Jose lowered his eyes. He is a typical Spanish boy with beautiful black eyes and thick eyelashes: "You haven't even obtained the holy order yet." He said: "And if the archbishop knows, he will definitely be angry with you .”

"Those Judahs don't know what happened," said Alberoni, "and if you would, you would, or you wouldn't have come to tell me about it."

"Well," Jose admitted frankly, "it's like this," he said, "Alberoni, the servants around me are all arranged by my uncle, but I have a lot of money that I can use." There was no one he could trust, but he knew that Alberoni was Italian, and since he became a disciple of the archbishop, there were quite a few of his own family around him.

"Where did you get the money?"

"It belongs to Carlos II." Jose said frankly, "He asked me to prepare an army for him, just like Louis XIV's standing army, an army loyal to only one person."

Alberoni's eyes widened: "But didn't he expel you?"

"But the money has already been 'used'," Jose said contemptuously, "He dare not ask me for it. My uncle, your teacher, or even the Queen Mother or Duke Don Juan must not know about this matter."

Alberoni obviously wanted to smile, but now he couldn't. "Is there a way you can bribe the officer stationed outside the Juda block?"

"He is now the servant of a famous woman." Jose said, "I will go to see that lady tonight."

———————

"So, there are always things that no one can predict in this world." Mrs. Milady said that she had already "subdued" the officer—she was quite surprised that the Spaniards used the Judas as a scapegoat. , but it’s not surprising when you think about it, the Roman Church was also like this during the Black Death? At that time, the priests were trying to avoid the prestige of the church from being hit because they could not solve the Black Death. Now they are trying to avoid shaking Carlos II, no, it is correct to say that it is the authority of the Habsburgs in Spain...

A deformed and demented king is bad enough, a deformed and malevolent king will reduce the loyalty of the people to the royal family to the lowest point.

The compassion and empathy of these two teenagers are touching, but unfortunately, as the most powerful secret agent of His Majesty Louis XIV, Mrs. Milady is bound to reveal the whole truth to the world—the future King of Spain It must be Charles Bourbon!

She sighed and boarded the carriage. With José and Alberoni, her actions became much simpler and easier—she directly knocked on the door of the wise man of Judas—in Judaism, a wise man is equivalent to a priest, Of course, this wise man also converted to Christianity on the surface, but he never gave up on converting converts. He dedicated himself like a saint, and at the same time held hope, but when he was young, He lost his wife in the riot caused by the plague.

From that day on he has been doing his best to instigate the Jews of Toledo to flee to Algeria or wherever the Jews are treated kindly.

But there are always people who are lucky, just like his youngest son, who always said that there is still time, or that for the Judahs, every place is the same.

...

"who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, there is not much time left for you," Mrs. Milady said straight to the point: "On All Saints' Day, there will be fireworks for celebration in the square again. After your son , your grandson and granddaughter will also become a pile of cheap fuel!"

"But what else can I do!?" The wise man yelled, he didn't care at all, he was wearing a Jewish black robe and a conspicuous black round cap, with disheveled white hair protruding from the brim of the cap, and his eye sockets were swollen, The irises were bloodshot, "Devil! Take away, my everything, if you want to take away my dignity, and watch my pain for pleasure, then I want to say, you did it, you did it! Watch it!" He snapped He tore off his jacket and shirt, revealing his shriveled chest: "Stab! Go here!"

Immediately, he felt a biting chill - Mrs. Milady's dagger was pointed at his chest, and a series of fine pimples appeared on the wrinkled skin.

He fell silent in horror.

"It seems that you are not so brave and fearless." Milady smiled. She pushed the dagger forward, and the wise man instinctively retreated. He pushed into the room and closed the door

Milady thought that the stubborn old man was furious because of shame, but he just took a few deep breaths before calming down: "...Facing death and pain, it is not a sin to be afraid. "His reason also recovered a little because of the cold dagger: "Why did Christians come to a Judah's house, gentlemen, if you didn't come to drag me to the stake, then what are you here for?" ?”

"We've come to negotiate a deal with you," said Milady.

"Is anyone really negotiating business with the Judas in good faith?" said the wise man: "If it goes to court, every judge and jury will swear that the Judas is a liar. Ourselves—I suppose the business you're going to negotiate with me must be extraordinary."

"Yes, but first, I want to tell you the ins and outs of this matter."

"Is there any reason to execute some Jews?"

"I don't need any reason to execute a few Judas, even if I kill a thousand, but the reason hidden in it is worth investigating."

"I want to ask first, ma'am, can the reason behind this change the current result?"

"It depends on how you do it."

"We couldn't even get out of the block."

"If a buyer can't even bring out the goods, how can he come to negotiate a deal?"

"Ah, so we turned out to be goods."

"Being able to be a cargo, rather than a fuel, is already a huge profit."

"What do you want us to do?"

"Do what the Spaniards are unwilling and unable to do."

"whats the matter?"

"Destroy their king," thought Milady, "and perhaps his son."

—————

On the eve of All Saints' Feast, the Archbishop of Toledo, with the help of two servants, put on a new sacrificial vestment, which was covered with gold and silver thread, precious stones and pearls. During this period of busyness, and the compensation that Alberoni suffered in the king's secret room, Alberoni was more likely to obtain the Holy Grail a few years in advance-but Alberoni didn't seem to feel much about it. Joy, he would not even take part in the All Saints' Day procession, preferring only to pray in his room.

The archbishop thought of Alberoni's eyes, and Jose Patinho. This is the disadvantage of young people. They can't bear a little dirt. They don't know how bad this world is. Otherwise, why would there be hell and What about the final judgment? But they were really too young, especially Alberoni, and José only heard it, unlike Alberoni - he couldn't see, but he could hear.

He shook his head sadly, and changed back into his comfortable pajamas. The sacrificial gown was stately and gorgeous, but it was just too heavy.

Because he will preside over the parade and mass tomorrow morning, the archbishop went to bed early and drank a cup of herbal tea to ensure that his sleep would not be disturbed. Waking up from the shaking, he tried hard to identify it for a while, only to realize that the person shaking him was none other than Duke Don Juan.

"Something has happened!" cried Duke Don Juan. "The Monastery of Santo Domingo has been breached!"

What! The Archbishop of Toledo found that he understood every word, but he couldn't understand the combination... What does it mean that the Santo Domingo Monastery was breached? To be honest, if it wasn't for the previous incident, the Santo Domingo Monastery would Not so familiar... It is not a day or two that the Inquisition and the Church of Rome seem to be at odds.

"An Englishman, or a Frenchman!?" cried the Archbishop, taking off his hat indiscriminately.

"It's a Spaniard," said the Queen Mother in despair.

————

It's interesting to say that Carlos II's crimes were uncovered, and there were actually several hands pushing it intentionally or unintentionally.

Needless to say, Milady is a skilled puppeteer. Jose and Alberoni came from pure souls that have not been corrupted by power and fame. Milady promises to save his two grandchildren first), and the desperate Judah is a last mad effort.

It is far more difficult to persuade a group of Jews who are nominally converted, but who are still incompatible with the Christians in Toledo and who have suffered great injustices, than to persuade a group of Toledo who are willing to recognize the Habsburg rule in Spain despite their doubts. Ledo is much easier.