"The Church will not identify me as a heretic. "Because this is also a grave sin for the Church, and let me not forget, according to the doctrine of the Church, that when I was crowned, the Holy Spirit was one with me, and if I was a heretic, then what was the Church?" he continued, "but they would have used it to blackmail me—if Elelius was not perceptive, and my spies were not alert enough." He sighed softly, for he had discovered that there were so many places where money was needed that he did not place men in the Church of Rome in the first place—also because of economic hardship, and the clergy were more greedy for bribes than any envoy or governor.

"Fortunately," said the king, "we have not been able to put the church in full initiative in the outbreak of the plague." "The plan of the Church of Rome should be to use the outbreak of the plague to claim that the king has been deceived by the devil, and directly point to the king's disrespect for the pope and Rome three years ago, just like the threat of Charles IV in the past, although the pope may not be able to directly depose Louis XIV, after all, compared to the chaotic Holy Roman Empire, the king of France never needs to be elected by princes, and the eldest son of each king is destined to become the master of France at birth, but the pope can still use this reason to murder the king's right-hand men, provoke the king's princes to rebel, and punish the king from the church, so as to encourage his subjects to refuse to pay taxes to the king and fulfill their obligations。

The problem is that some people, either because they are stupid or selfish, do what the church wants.

It's just that when the chess pieces of the church went to the second step, they were already blocked by the king, and the apparitions of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris have proved the king's piety, and the Black Death has been tightly blocked in the northernmost part of France, and has not even been able to cross the provinces of Pika and Ardennes, the king has always been benevolent, which is recognized, but when it comes to the Black Death, he has become the most ruthless tyrant - Three years ago, it would have been impossible to stop the influx of homeless people, but before Princess Henrietta became the Duchess of Orleans, the king asked for thirty Calais ships for dowry, and his bachelors and craftsmen had already developed the most rudimentary and basic steam engine, a secret known only to a few people, and the man in charge of the investment, the king, several important ministers, researchers, and craftsmen were placed on the island of Pito, a slender island hidden behind the Boulogne woods。

We all know what the Boulogne woods were, and the occasional visit of the king and his attaché would not attract the attention of others, but they would often go straight through the woods, board the boats, and enter the heavily guarded island of Pito.

It may be said that there was this steam engine first, which at first was only a toy used by the scholars and craftsmen to flatter the king, and they probably did not expect that when this little toy was enlarged tenfold, fifty times and a hundred times, it would have the power of a giant— Then there were the thirty Calais ships, the Calais ships with iron plates could certainly defend against artillery, but its weight was as considered by the ministers and generals, it could not be driven at all by relying on the oars, and could only be moored in the bay, but with the steam engine and the paddle wheel outside, its speed could be comparable to that of ordinary galleys, but after its huge body was equipped with iron plates and iron ramming angles, even if it did not use artillery, it could open up a wide road in the vast sea with only ramming tactics.

But what the king did not expect was that while he was still in a hurry to refit the Calais ship, one of the major tasks carried out by these steam engines, that is, the drawing of iron wire, which he had intended to use in construction, who knew that they would still be the first to appear on the battlefield like all advanced technology, although it was a battlefield of mankind and pestilence.

Some people may think that iron wire is an extremely modern thing, but no, it first appeared in 1400 BC, which is the so-called Iron Age - To be specific, the iron ore was first thrown into a huge boiler along with lignite, ignited and burned, and the molten iron flowed out of the trenches and finally solidified into the so-called sponge iron, which the blacksmiths carried back to their workshops, smashed a piece of it when it was needed, burned it in the fire until it softened, and then made into various weapons or armor according to the customer's requirements.

In order to ensure that the thickness of the wire is consistent, they have a special wire drawing plate, knocking small holes of different sizes on the board, through this wire drawing plate, the wire drawn out is the same diameter, but it can also be thought of with the toes, this production method is bound to be inefficient, and it is no wonder that the production cost and time of chain mail are only affordable by the nobles.

But with the steam engine, the speed of wire production was like wings, and although it still required a lot of manual labor to take care of some of the processes, the accumulated wire in the previous two or three years was enough for him to turn the Paris basin into a fluffy hedgehog, and the wizards' ravens flew to and fro in the air, and the soldiers on patrol rushed to intercept it as soon as they saw the crows quacking— The king's new army, which had been put together with all his might, showed in the unpredictable mood of the lords and officials the loyalty and steadfastness that the previous army had never seen before, and their clothing, weapons and equipment attracted countless envious eyes, and it was also because the shadow of the Black Death was always pressing on people's hearts, otherwise these strong young men would surely leave a lot of good themes of romance.

The Church of Rome may still be waiting for the king to bow his noble head before the terrible plague, and Louis doesn't know if they have a way to control the rot and the plague, but as far as Theoderick and Elarius know about the church, they may have been prepared to leave the people behind and flee immediately when things get to the worst, and it is not the first time Rome has been abandoned anyway - but before that, if the king is convicted, France may really become a vassal of the Roman Church- The other countries of Europa may not sit idly by and watch the church at the mercy of a king, but they will certainly want to take advantage of the fire.

The Spanish ambassador had already come to the king before, and it was clear that his intention was not simple, but it was ironic that his master was not the regent Queen Maria or Carlos II, but the illegitimate son Don Juan.

Compared to Duke Don Juan's wonderful idea - He intended to snatch love, that is, he was willing to marry the three-year-old daughter of the Duke of Orleans at the age of thirty, that is, not only was he ten times the age of the little princess, but he also took away his brother's wife, but since it was a whimsy, of course the king would not agree, let alone Don Juan, even Carlos II, unless it was absolutely necessary, Louis would not let the little lord marry a man who sat on the throne and could not do without a nurse, not to mention, his mother was the daughter of Habsburg, that is, the natural enemy of France, and he was the king of Spain, it will only be more difficult than the current Queen of France.

And the Duke of Don Juan, needless to say, is not just because of the age difference, but in Europa, the status of illegitimate children is always extremely low, even if this duke has obtained legal status and obtained the title of duke, his wife can still only be chosen outside the royal nobles, unless he can really become the regent of Spain, instead of putting the cart before the horse, first marrying the minor lord of the Duke of Orleans, and then seeking support from France to become the regent.

It's just that for the Duke of Don Juan, in addition to the nobility of the petty princess, he may also covet the dowry of the petty lord - the dowry of Princess Henrietta is not rich, but the Duke of Orleans has a considerable wealth, part of which, as long as the King of France is not too excessive, is an unusually rich asset...... In return, the Duke of Don Juan was willing to try to contact his hidden line in Rome to ease tensions between the Church and Louis XIV. It's just that the Duke may not know yet that the king and the Church of Rome are already on two opposite sides, and the Church has miscalculated Louis's tolerance— This is not a mistake, the nobles at this time have never cared about those who are of inferior status, they may have all kinds of virtues, but the Virgin Mary proves that this is definitely not for butchers or maids, and those priests may feel that even if thousands of commoners die, it may not shake the king's will, so they will treat the Duke of Orleans and the royal brother Philippe as the rooster that threatens the king.

For example, in order to curb the spread of the Black Death, he not only used barbed wire, crossbows and muskets, but also gave orders to all the magistrates, as long as anyone dared to attack. Those who climbed over or infiltrated the cordon were killed, and some of the villages and towns that were determined to have spread the Black Death were burned down, and if the survivors inside were able to follow the orders and stay in one place until it was confirmed that no one was sick inside, then they might still be alive to wait for the king's compensation, but if not......

Thanks to the still lagging communications, it was only until the Black Death completely destroyed a town.

As mentioned above, the people of Paris not only did not think of him as cruel and cruel, but thought that their king was a man like the Holy Angel Michael, holy and decisive enough, a painter who was good at sycophants, and even painted the face of the king on the archangel holding a flaming sword, and at his feet the devil representing the plague.

The king sighed for a long time as he stood in front of the portrait, which was almost equal to his height, and wished he had the power of a holy angel, so that he would not have to worry about his brother in Nancy, nor would he have to worry about the inevitable future demise of Lorraine and Alsace.

"Your Majesty......"

"Does anyone want to see me?

"It's the Duchess of Orleans. Bang Tang said.

Just as the king seldom went to the residence of the Queen Mother in order to avoid suspicion, lest he meet the Duchess of Orleans too often, and the Duchess of Orleans, Princess Henrietta, also rarely went to the east side of the Louvre, that is, where the King's suite was located, so as not to cause any gossip, after all, Madame Lavallière was once her personal lady-in-waiting, and there were already discussions that this lady-in-waiting was probably a shield erected by the king in order to cover up his affair with her— She certainly wouldn't be as in love with the Duke of Orleans as a woman, and ...... She knew from a very young age that no one in the French court was in favor of a possible marriage between the king and her, except for her and her mother.

She was prepared before she got married, to be a peace-temperamental wife, if not to get along with her husband like a husband and wife, then at least it would be nice to be like a friend, but fortunately the king had spoken to the Duke of Orleans about it, and the proud little prince had respect for her after marriage, and Queen Mother Anne was very kind to her—she was saying, compared to Queen Theresa, in short, she thought that her life would not make waves so quickly— She thought that the first thing she would face was the duke's lover, a woman, or a man, and then there might be some enemies inside and outside the court—what she didn't expect was that the first letter she wrote to her brother was for her husband.

The Duchess of Orleans soon entered, and as soon as she saw Louis, she fell to her knees, and her broad skirt spread out on the silk carpet like petals on the water.

"Stand up. Madam. Louis said, "It seems that we have not received an answer worthy of rejoicing." ”

"Yes, they rejected me. The Duchess of Orleans said, looking up and her face was as haggard as a dead leaf.

——————

Charles II laughed angrily.

"Listen," he said dryly, "listen, gentlemen," he said to his guards and attendants, "my sister has married the Duke of Orleans for England, and her marriage has brought England a powerful ally, and now she has turned to us for help, that she may not lose her husband, that her daughter may not lose her father, and that I will not lose a friend and brother-in-law with whom I have been raised, and then, look at the answer of the council." He shook the record in his hand, "Although it is high-sounding, although it is conclusive, but you don't need to look at it much, everyone, there is just one sentence in it, they are carnival!"

"For the calamity of France!" he shouted, his voice even a little too sharp, which made everyone in the room tremble. "They were elated and in high spirits. They are like a flock of hateful vultures, hovering above the dead, waiting for the first bite of fresh meat! There is no mercy, no mercy! They, ah, they, these devilish men, are the masters of Britain! God, I would not be at all surprised if there was an angel right now, with a thunderbolt in his hand, and everyone in the House of Commons would be shattered!"