Chapter 49—The King's Conversation with the Two Gentlemen d'Artagnan (on potatoes)

The king waited until the two musketeers had slowed down their eating, and then asked, "What do you think of today's dishes?"

The two Gentlemen d'Artagnan looked at each other, "Very good." The older one said, as if he had exhausted his share of words to explain d'Artagnan, "Your Majesty, this is a meal that I will never forget." Perhaps he felt a little weak, and then he added, but he could already see some difficulty, and the king could not help laughing, and this response undoubtedly gave courage to young d'Artagnan, and he earnestly praised the king's cook's skill and his majesty's generosity, but no matter what he said, he did not say what the king wanted to hear, so the king could only nod his head, "and so," he said, "I called you both in the hope that they might do something important for me." ”

Hearing the king say this, both Pierre and d'Artagnan raised their heads and listened carefully, not wanting to spare a word.

"Have you all eaten this?" said the king, picking up a soft, round potato that had been boiled from his plate.

"Got it. D'Artagnan said, "Is this beetroot, or sweet potato?"

"To my surprise," said the king, "you have eaten sweet potatoes! I thought it was not a very common food." ”

At the mention of this, d'Artagnan's face appeared with the kind of smile that men knew: "A respectable lady has rewarded me," he said, plucking his mustache, "though it is a small piece, but it is indeed the dish of the king or queen." He paused and thought for a moment: "But I feel that it is a little more delicate than sweet potatoes." ”

"I don't think it's a sweet potato, either. Pierre said.

"Why do you think so?" asked the king.

"Because I've heard that you entertained the people of the old town of Hitelle with a vegetable that resembles a sweet potato. Pierre said, "It's a potato, isn't it?"

"Yes. The king said.

"It's a bit unfair," said d'Artagnan, "and I wasn't in Hitalor at the time." ”

"Then let's even if you're tied. The king said.

"You haven't said what you want us to do?" said d'Artagnan.

"It has to do with the vegetables you eat, which is potatoes. The king said, "I have here about a martto of potatoes, and I would like to take them back to Paris to be planted." ”

"That's good," said d'Artagnan, "it's so soft." ”

"But maybe there will be some nasty thieves. ”

"Ah, I see," d'Artagnan cried, "you need us to protect these potatoes," and though the work seemed strange and disappointing to him, he bred himself together and tried to be as willing as he could be: "I will protect them as long as you command them." ”

"You'll do it without a drop of water. ”

"Not a drop of water, Your Majesty, no one can steal even an ounce of plaster from under my sword. ”

"But I don't need you to do it," said the king, "and I want you to make it as loud as you can, and then ......."

"And then?"

"If someone comes to you to bribe ......"

"Then they're looking at the wrong person. ”

"No, I want you to accept a bribe. ”

"What damage that would have done to my reputation. ”

"It can't be worse than Mr. Bishop's. The king said, "When you have accepted the bribe, you will quietly put the potatoes in your clothes and bring them to those who have bribed you." ”

"Well, do you want these people to grow potatoes?" said d'Artagnan, "I already understand, but why don't you tell them directly." ”

"Of course, because people are always very strange, sometimes very gullible and sometimes very stubborn, they are conformists, but they are very interested in disobedience, and if I say to them, go and plant potatoes, which is a good thing that can be used as bread, and as a vegetable, and as a snack, and that in three months a large vat grows, and not only will they not believe it, but they will think that I am going to murder them, and that they will suffer and suffer. ”

"Is it really that good?" asked Pierre, "but people say it's an apple that the devil has buried in the ground." ”

"Then the devil is a good man," said the king, "and he has sent us such good things." ”

D'Artagnan laughed at this, and his cousin Pierre glared at him: "We ought to obey your orders," he said, "but I don't know if anyone will do it." ”

"Yes. "I will give you ten louis for you," said the king, "so that you may invite your friends to the tavern for a drink and a meal, and to spread the word about it, and then I will give you ten louis for each town you visit." ”

"Then we can all eat well all the way," said d'Artagnan, "and what about the bribes?"

"That is my reward for you. The king said.

"Looks like I'm going to do my best. d'Artagnan said, then ate the last potato on the plate.

——————

D'Artagnan did what he said, and with ten louis of gold given by the king, he immediately invited several other musketeers to eat and drink in the tavern, and used up two great ejus for each meal, and within a few days the people of the old town of Getelle knew that the king had eaten a vegetable called potatoes here, and liked it so much that he even had to transport it back to Paris to be planted, and sent a special team of musketeers to protect it.

Some of those who had had the privilege of dining with the king boasted at once that in their mouths this strange vegetable was more luscious than beetroot, more tender than sweet potatoes (though most of them had never eaten sweet potatoes), crispier than lettuce, and had all sorts of ways of cooking, as the king had said to d'Artagnan, that it could be used as a staple as well as in a dish, and that, as any kind of rumor, by the time the king was about to leave the old town of Hetayl, the potatoes had become the flesh of the saints, and were no longer the devil's apples, and when eaten, they would not get leprosy, but hemorrhoids and coughs, someone cut a potato and covered his wound with slices, and the wound stopped bleeding...... There were some funny things that the king found unbelievable.

But the king's original purpose was achieved, and the night before he left, someone came to talk to d'Artagnan, and he thought that it was not difficult, after all, it was very common to take bribes from bishops to soldiers, but d'Artagnan refused him, and when he asked, d'Artagnan said that although this vegetable was delicious and prolific, it had very strict requirements for storage and use— Well, he said this, and the people who wanted potatoes became more anxious, that they wanted to be complicated, that they wanted trouble, or how else could they show the sincerity and identity of their masters?

D'Artagnan's behavior is not insignificant, but his understanding of these nobles is much deeper than that of his cousin Pierre, which is manifested in the fact that the number of people looking for d'Artagnan is the most, and before he is halfway, his money bag is full, and Pierre only has a few poor gold louis in his hand, but Pierre is relieved, after all, he is not d'Artagnan, he really can't do it, or rather, calmly do such a thing- But he had nothing to blame for d'Artagnan's actions, it was the king's order, and d'Artagnan returned the seven hundred louis he had borrowed from him as soon as possible, so he was now also a man with a lot of money.

They went all the way, taking bribes all the way - Although the peasants had boiled their children in pots because of the famine, the lords and merchants were so rich that in the end even the frivolous d'Artagnan took a sum of money and asked the quartermaster to hire more men to do some work that was not much needed, and then give them wheat, which they did not even use to grind into flour, but ate it because they did not even have enough to pay for the taxes they had to pay to gather firewood。

These people were all men, and Pierre did not dare to think about the old man, the woman and the children.

The king did such things, and more widely and thoroughly, and at every place he stopped, he erected a cross for the queen mother, as evidence, and everyone who was willing to go to the cross and pray for the queen mother received a pound of oats. But there was no harm to such an act, that is, the procession that followed the king was getting longer and longer, as it seemed everywhere, and the people were struggling for a mouthful of food for their lives, and whoever gave them food, they followed.

Queen Mother Anne no longer persuaded the king, and among them was the king's growing prestige, as a docile woman, because she habitually backed down, and because of the passage opened by Colbert and Fouquet, who constantly followed the king's procession, and brought wheat and other food, but sometimes she had to worry about what to do with them.

"Let's send them to Versailles first. The king said.

"Versailles?"

"Yes," Louis said, putting down the book in his hand, "Father bought a hundred and seventeen acres of land there, enough for them to live," he thought for a moment, "Mother, I want to rebuild a palace there." ”

"For hunting?"

"No, if it's just for hunting, then the palace that my father left me is fine. "But it's too early to say this, it's a barren place, and when these people come to Versailles, I'll let them go and level the land, drain the swamps, and cut down some of the forest, so that they too can grow wheat or potatoes to feed themselves." ”

————

It was a matter of thousands of lives, but for the Queen Mother and the King, it was only a casual conversation before bedtime, and when the King's potatoes were only a quarter of Marto, they came to Romey, which was not far from Paris, and where they stayed, and while the Queen Mother's cross was erected, Abbot La Rivière asked the King for an audience, and because of the man's knowledge, the King seldom refused his request, and this time was no exception, and he came soon and introduced a priest to the King。

The priest, who was evident of his affiliation with Abbot La Rivière, offered the king the holy book, the jeweled reliquary, the hair of the Virgin, and the baby teeth of the Son, and then respectfully said what he meant—to apply to the king for the position of abbot of a monastery, which belonged to the royal family, and the king agreed, but after expressing his gratitude, he stood there as if he had something important to say.

"If anything else is anything to you," said the king, "please speak, for I have said that as long as you are my people, you may speak freely before me." ”

“...... I beg your pardon, Your Majesty," said the clergyman, who hesitated for a moment, "I have come across a very ridiculous thing. ”

"Say, I'm listening. ”

"Not long ago, we caught a wizard. ”

"It's scary, and then?"

He said...... Maybe the devil is speaking through his mouth, and I shouldn't have believed it, but your honor, Your Majesty—I mean, God, Your Majesty, he said he knew you!"