Nicholas Fouquet was the third person the king saw in this room, but unlike the first two gentlemen, Fouquet was now only a magistrate, a "nobleman in robes" who was despised by the "nobles with swords", but he did not think that there was anything to be ashamed of, the difference between one was to serve the king with the sword, and the other to serve the king with his mind, and he felt that he was superior to the reckless men, though he did not dare to claim it.

When the king saw Fouquet, he was more casual, he only wore loose pajamas, and then covered with a fox skin robe over the pajamas, the rich fur set off the young king more slender, he saw Fouquet, only used a quill to the prepared stool a little, Fouquet bowed, lifted his robe, sat upright on it, the king finished writing the letter in his hand before putting down the pen: "Do you want to drink something?"

"If you could," said Fouquet, "a little hot chocolate, it's cold." ”

"Two glasses of chocolate," said the king to Bontang, "give Mr. Fouquet a little whiskey." Bontang walked away, and before he came back, the king was about to talk to Fouquet, but he saw him take a deep breath, he didn't know why at first, but soon he guessed the reason, cough, it was probably like people were about to realize that a burden was about to weigh on them, he must have taken a deep breath, Fouquet was a shrewd man, he had been here for a week, he had seen everything he wanted to see, and what he wanted to know could not escape his ears, he must know the king...... I'm running out of money.

The first time he escaped from Paris, because he was too hasty, the royal family didn't even take too much money, so that when he was in Saint-Ger-en-Laing, even the daily expenses were stretched, so when he left Paris for the second time, Louis urged his mother to make arrangements with Mr. Bishop in advance, and they took away all the movable property that could be taken, even some holy weapons, so all the way over, although famine was everywhere, the king's situation was not embarrassing, just a person, even a royal family's use is completely incomparable with an army, not to mention that the king has been supporting General Schomberg to collect the displaced people and let him train them so that he can enrich the army, not long ago, Viscount Tirene surrendered to the king with three thousand of his soldiers, and the king did not seem to want to dismiss them.

The king summoned General Schaumberg or Viscount Tyrrenne, either politically or militarily, but the only reason he summoned Fuquet was money.

Fouquet went to find wheat for the king this time, and it can be said that he was making a loss-making deal, especially those muskets, cannons, and two three-masted ships that had been converted into warships, although they played a surprising role in the attack and defense of Hital, but whether it was a ship, Gunpowder or sailors' commissions, all from Fouquet's private pockets, for this he even pawned his old house, let his mother, wife and children move to the countryside, it can be said that it is a desperate bet, and it is precisely because of this that if the king wants him to continue to accumulate money for him, can he refuse, no, of course not, even if they don't spend much time together, but he has already seen that their little king has an extraordinary good memory, if he dares to leave it alone, the king will not only remember him, maybe even the surname Fouquet will be firmly in his heart。

Such thoughts could not help but make Fouquet anxious and distressed at the same time, he now only hoped that the king would either give him more time, or give him more manpower, or give him more power, he had deceived every merchant he could deceive, and some ignorant villains in the territory, in order to avoid them, he did not even dare to go out of the castle these days. All this money, as well as the "polegin" that he was supposed to pay to the king, was put into the bottomless pit of military spending, and it seemed that it would continue to be invested.

"Monsieur Fouquet," said Louis affectionately, amusedly watching him tense at once, as if he were about to jump up and flee at any moment, "I have called you here to praise you," and he said, "I am delighted that you have done so perfectly for me, even more than I expected." ”

"It is my duty," replied the ambitious gentleman, "that your reward will only make me feel guilty, for I am not as good as you say." His words were humble, but when the king's eyes fell on his hand, he found that the pale hand was constantly squeezing and pinching, which was a sign of emotional tension, and he was not as calm as he said but quite the opposite.

"Please come here. Louis said, and Fouquet immediately got up and walked over, and as soon as he approached, the signs of intense emotion became even more obvious, his black pupils narrowed markedly, his lips were chapped, and fine beads of sweat were printed on his forehead, and he held his breath when he saw the king reach out and open the drawer.

The king pulled a rose from it and pinned it to Fouquet's collar.

This gentleman, who had always been confident and triumphant, froze.

He looked at his collar, and then at the king's smiling face, and could not help but bring a sense of grievance to his face, "God," he complained, "I don't expect to have a big diamond pin, but even a shoulder strap, is your majesty stingy with rewarding me?"

"Oops," said Louis, "you saw the diamond pins, too." ”

"No," said Fouquet, "it was so cold that the two generals got up at five o'clock in the morning and went to bed at twelve o'clock in the evening, just so that more people could see their diamond pins, which were so bright that they could not open their eyes, and I think even the blind could see them." ”

"Of course," said Louis, "because not long ago they were pinned to my mother's shoulder, and the reason why it was given as a gift by my father, Louis XIII, to my mother, Queen Anne, was because she gave birth to me." ”

"Oh my God!" Fukai was really surprised: "Do the two generals know about this?"

"Of course not. The young king grimaced for his age: "It's like they don't know that I gave them diamond pins because I couldn't get a reward." ”

"Is this the point?" asked Fouquet.

"It's up to this point," Louis said, pulling open the drawer, "every one of my chests is as empty as you see, and even St. Francis, who talks to the birds, will not be as poor as I am." Then he saw Fouquet look down, as if calculating something: "What are you planning?" he asked curiously.

"I'm calculating how much more money I can get for you," said Fouquet sincerely, "at least to send you back to Paris." ”

"I'm afraid it's hard. ”

"It's hard, Your Majesty. ”

"Then I'll give you a suggestion. ”

"I'm listening. ”

"Go borrow some money from someone else. ”

"I'm going to do that. ”

"But you never know who to go to. ”

"Who?"

"Bishop Mazaran. ”

This choice did surprise Nicolas Fouquet, whose heart sank like a stone, for he feared that he would be drawn into the battle between the young king and the bishop.

"I have already written a letter," said Louis, "and I want a reliable man to take the letter to Liège and give it to Monsieur Bishop, and to borrow him half a hundred thousand livres." ”

"That's a lot of money. ”

"Believe me, for Mr. Bishop, this is only a drop in the bucket, after all, it is only one-fifth of the money he has embezzled from the navy's military spending. ”

Fouquet only felt bitter on the tip of his tongue, and now he didn't need to worry, because he had literally become a knife in the king's hand.

"What are you hesitating about?" asked Louis, "do you think Mr. Bishop will be upset by this?"

"Will he still be happy about it?"

"Why not. Louis said calmly: "After all, he is in accordance with the words of his teacher, Mr. Bishop Richelieu, 'My first purpose is to exalt the king, and my second purpose is to glorify the kingdom.'" I think you've read that, well, take this letter, and if he asks you anything, you will answer it truthfully, and if he is really willing to do what he promised me, he will lend you the money. ”

Fouquet took the letter, and it burned like a red-hot piece of iron to his heart.

——————————

"You're taking a real risk. When the Queen Mother heard of this, she said to Louis: "Why don't you tell him what we have agreed, and let him go on this task with great joy and pleasure, and what shall we do if he, fearing the wrath of Mr. Bishop, destroys the letter and flees, or gives it to some other man with evil intentions?"

"Then he won't be trusted by me anymore. Louie said.

"But not everyone can stand up to such a test," the Queen Mother said.

"But I have a very important thing to do with someone who is trustworthy and good at dealing with financial issues. Louis said, kissing his mother's hand: "If Fouquet can't, then I'll go to the second one, what about Mary?"

Queen Mother Anne knew that this was a sign that the king intended to end the conversation, Louis was almost fourteen years old, which is also recognized as the age of majority, and she had originally wanted to hold a ceremony and a feast for him in Herthelle, and then because of the Viscount Tyrrenne's surrender, she thought that she should be able to wait until they returned to Paris, but now it seems that they may still have to hold the ceremony in Herthelle— She also knew that the king had no money now, otherwise she would not have given Louis XIII the gift he had given her (albeit only one of the suits) so that he could reward the two generals—although she was not politically sensitive and knew nothing about military affairs, she still knew that before she could leave, she had to pay a large sum of money to ensure the loyalty of the soldiers.

Mary was in her room. The Queen Mother said that although Mary was nominally her maid-in-waiting, no one would really let such a small child serve the Queen Mother, and Mary was often with the King, and there were often whispers about it, but as long as Mr. Bishop, the Queen Mother and the King did not say anything, Mary's status would only be more noble, not lower, which could be seen from the fact that her room was getting closer to the Queen Mother and the King, and the decoration was becoming more and more beautiful, and the food and water were becoming more and more abundant.

When the king pushed the door open, Marie jumped up from a crystal ball, and hurriedly pulled up a piece of black velvet to cover it, and was relieved to see that it was the king: "You should knock on the door." She said angrily, "I almost broke it, and it's not so easy to get such a crystal now." "And it's expensive, it's so expensive that even the little witch now has to feel distressed.

Louie reflexively closed the door: "It's my fault," he admitted, "Did you find him?"

"Found it. Mary said, dragging the king to sit beside her, "Concentrate." She said.

The king did as she was told, and first he saw a thick fog, "I see nothing." ”

"Don't speak," said Mary's voice, as if coming from afar, "close your eyes and think of the face of the person you are going to see." ”

So the king closed his eyes, and he copied in his mind the image of Nicolas Fouquet, who was the same age as General Schumberg and was born in 15 years, but unlike the general, he looked like a good-looking, gentle and kind man, without a beard, his fingers were slender and white, and the only bad thing was that the hair on his forehead was a little sparse, so he combed his bangs as neatly as he could, and he always liked to wear a black coat, and then turned out the collar of his translucent shirt, the sleeves of which were also rolled up to make beautiful folds.