As a talent from an ordinary family in Songjiang, although Zhang Ke's family background is not enough for him to play around like Xu Xiake, he has never worried about food and clothing since he was a child. So Zhang Ke is still a little clean when he is at home, and he sleeps more than the bed. But after nearly a year at sea, even if he was left in a pigsty, Zhang Ke felt that he could sleep with his head covered.

The hotel in Paris is much cleaner and more comfortable than the hostel in the French countryside, and after Song Xiance gave a sufficient bounty, the owner of the hotel also boiled a large bucket of hot water, so that the two of them could barely take a bath. Although the Ming Dynasty's toothbrushes, tooth powder, towels and soaps had become popular among the upper classes of Europe, Europeans still clinged to the old prejudice that bathing would make people lose energy and make them more susceptible to illness.

Therefore, in Paris, only Song Xiance and a very small number of upper-class people will have a well-equipped shower room at home, and there is no need to expect much in this kind of hotel. However, although the bath was not very comfortable, Zhang Ke had a rare good sleep when he lay on the bed with a dry and relaxed body after taking a bath.

So when he woke up the next day, he found that the sun outside was almost in the middle of the sky, and although the winter sun was not powerful, the sunlight shining from the window to the bed was still warm.

Zhang Ke, who wanted to lie on the bed for a while, suddenly seemed to remember something, so he quickly jumped out of bed and got dressed. At this time, he remembered that he was not at home in Songjiang, but in a strange country thousands of miles away, and it was still the first day he was recruited, and he didn't want the new owner to have any prejudices against him.

Even if he didn't want to work for Song Xiance, he now had nowhere to go in France, where he was unfamiliar with his life. Joseph was in too much of a hurry to break up, and he forgot to settle his salary with the other party, so Zhang Ke, who had empty pockets, could only do his best to deal with his new job.

However, when he went downstairs, one of the guards sitting in the living room told him that Lord Song had been summoned by the queen and could not accompany him to the residence. But the lord had hired him a carriage, and he could dine in the inn before being accompanied on his way by the guard.

Hearing the news conveyed by the guards, Zhang Ke relaxed a lot, he invited the other party to have lunch with him, but he was a little curious in his heart, what kind of identity this envoy of the Ming Dynasty visited Europe in Paris.

Unlike Zhang Ke, as soon as the sun crossed the walls of Paris, Song Xiance was already accustomed to opening his eyes and getting up. But while he was enjoying his breakfast, he stayed at the Bishop's Palace, the head of the mounted police, who monitored the situation in the city. Jacques. Gaune hastily found the inn and told him that the queen had sent someone to summon him at the Bishop's Palace early in the morning.

Song Xiance then abandoned his original plan, left Zhang Ke and went to the Louvre on the right bank of the Seine. If the heart of France is the city of Paris, then the heart of Paris is the Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine.

The original Paris was founded by the Romans on the Île de la Cité in the 1st century BC, and the Seine River, which flowed from both sides of the Île de la Cité, was the city's natural moat. By 508 AD, the Franks had taken over Paris, rebuilt churches and palaces on the island, and during the Capetian dynasty, Paris became the capital of France, and Paris has been the capital of France ever since.

Although the development of Paris was on the left bank of the Seine in the early days, with the resistance to the invasion of the north and the British, the center of gravity of the city gradually shifted to the right bank of the Seine, especially the main street parallel to the Seine. By the time of Louis XIII, the city of Paris had expanded four times, turning the whole city into a pear-shaped city across the banks of the Seine.

As the city of Paris expanded, the Louvre on the right bank of the Seine became more and more ornate and sprawling, so that the court, which had been living on the Île de la Cité, was now almost entirely transferred to the Louvre. However, the fastest way to travel between the two sides of the Seine is still to cross the bridge that crosses the north and south on the Île de la Cité.

On the carriage at a moderate pace, Song Xiance silently thought about his thoughts, although he was a little surprised that the cardinal had sent people to the East three years ago to gather information about China, but he had nothing to worry about. As he told Joseph yesterday, the cardinal now has little energy to pay attention to China, thousands of miles away.

It was not just the cardinal's own health that was going to happen, but more importantly the fact that there was once again a voice in Paris against Richelieu. Since Richelieu became Prime Minister of France, there has been no interruption in the political opposition to the cardinals, from Louis XIII's brother to Louis XIII's mother, and then to Louis XIII's queen, and finally the bishops have been victorious.

Only this time the leader of the opposition to the Cardinal was a little special, he was once the cardinal's ward Henry. Kofel. Lutz, now Louis XIII's male favorite Sanke. Mars, this name was changed to him by Louis XIII himself, which shows Louis XIII's love for this beautiful boy.

The cardinal, though aware that the king's trust in him had not changed, was still in his dealings with Sanke. On Mars's case, however, the king rejected Richelieu's proposal for the first time. This annoyed and worried the cardinal, for he knew that his time was running out. Mars was so young that, once he died, he would be able to manipulate Louis XIII's power to destroy the France he had worked so hard to build.

For the cardinal, today's France is the political result of his life's work, something he sees as more important than his own life. Therefore, the cardinal must not tolerate such a hidden danger to remain at the king's side. At this time, what energy did Richelieu have to think about the impact of China, thousands of miles away, on the future of France?

Song Xiance, who was forcibly left in Paris by Richelieu, spent most of his energy observing cardinals for the past three years for the sake of his life and mission to Europe, so he felt that he was already a foreigner who knew the cardinal the most.

However, the more he understood the cardinal, the more he realized two problems, one is that the cardinal can indeed do whatever he wants in France, and the lower limit of political means is indeed relatively low, and it is no wonder that there is no one in France who does not resent this lord.

The second is that the alliance with France and other matters he wants to plan will never bypass the cardinal. After all, even King Louis XIII of France once laughed at himself, he was just the first subject before the cardinal. To abandon the Cardinal was to abandon his blueprint for European affairs, which was difficult for him to decide.

However, after two years in Paris, he finally realized that there was really no one in France with whom he could talk to him about the Sino-French alliance against the Ottoman Empire, except for the cardinal. The cardinal's political opponents hardly see any lofty ideals other than their passion for power and wealth. To talk to these people about the situation in Europe and Asia decades from now is undoubtedly playing the harp to the bull.

During these two years, he also recognized the fact that, apart from the cardinal's view of the political situation in Europe, he shared the same position on the internal politics of France, which should be a strong and centralized kingdom, rather than a weak federation of princes.

After all, China needed a helper against the Ottoman Empire, not an empty name for an alliance. Therefore, the cardinal's action of attacking the aristocratic separatist forces to enhance the royal power was still more agreed with by Song Xiance.

Therefore, after nearly two years of stalemate with the cardinal, Song Xiance decided to bow to Richelieu. He also won the trust of Richelieu by proposing two or three things, such as establishing an examination system to screen officials and reorganizing the police system. Thus he began to pilot the establishment of the Paris police force for the cardinal, and to manage for him the spies who were scattered throughout France and abroad.

However, although Song Xiance bowed his head to Richelieu, he did not completely fall to Richelieu, because he knew that he and Richelieu could only be companions on the current road, and once France went on the road of foreign expansion, the goals of the two were far from each other. So after Richelieu, Song Xiance also found another political ally for himself, that is, Anna of Austria, the French queen.

When let. Jacques. When Gao En came to deliver the message of the queen's summons, Song Xiance faintly guessed the intention of the French queen to summon him. In the queen's meeting hall, after receiving Song Xiance's salute, Anna of Austria drove the attendant out of the room, then got up and walked to Song Xiance's side and said hurriedly: "Mr. Song, I remember that you once said that you would not choose a side between the king and the throne. ”

Although the queen is not as beautiful and youthful as when she was young, her long chestnut hair still maintains the girlish demeanor, and the perfume she sprays on her body also hides her body odor very well. Talking with such a mature and charming lady, Song Xiance's body and mind are still relatively happy.

However, after hearing the queen's question, he still replied cautiously: "Of course, although the foreign minister accepted the appointment of His Majesty the king, the foreign minister did not become a French citizen. Therefore, the ministers will be dutiful to the positions appointed by the king, but there will be no preference for His Majesty the king and His Holiness the throne. Of course, in official matters, the lower officials thought that His Majesty the King had the final decision. ”

The queen stared at Song Xiance for a long time before she asked seriously: "Then as the queen of France, can I ask you to answer me, what is the Dharma seat planning to pull the king to the south this time?" Please don't tell me that this is to boost the morale of the front-line soldiers, which is not at all like what the throne used to say. ”

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