It was not for nothing that Louis said this.

It is not surprising that Cardinal Mazarin's intelligence agents have returned from England and that Oliver Cromwell may have begun to rule the country as he pleases, and that he sees himself as the savior of the people and the messenger of God, but when a man puts himself in such a high position, it means that he is about to fall hard.

"It's also possible that he will become king. "How close he is to the throne, even if he forged all the symbols of kingship that crowned kings, from the crown to the scepter, from the orb to the coronation ring, he could always make something new, just as he had created the present New England." ”

"That's the problem, Mr. Bishop. Louis lamented: "As far as I can see and learn, Cromwell is a man who thinks of himself, or is indeed a man who advocates simplicity and is dedicated to the country, but he is too paranoid, and this is also a common problem of many people, I mean, they think that the people are like wood and clay, they can carve and knead whatever they want, they can remove anything they don't want, or make them what they want, but it's completely impossible."

If Oliver Cromwell is so arrogant that he behaves in all sorts of depravity, as King Solomon did, Mr. Bishop, if 10,000 clergymen come to condemn him, he will not be afraid, and indeed, he may become a king, as you say. ”

"This makes me curious," said Bishop Mazarin, "why do you say that?"

"Although Cromwell always humbly said that his birth was not lowly, but he was not illustrious, we all know that in fact his family was also considered a famous family, but neither he nor his father were qualified to inherit the title, and we can fully think that he said this in order to win the trust of the commoners. ”

"That's true. ”

And as a Protestant, he was very himself. ”

I don't want to admit it, but it's hard to find fault with his moral character. ”

So he also thinks that others should be as religious and have a strong will as he is. The king crossed his legs: "He kept a close watch on every Catholic and had the soldiers destroy the church." ”

"Too 'Romanized' churches. "The ones they don't recognize, the crosses on the walls, the relics and the boxes that contain them, even the stained glass windows – because that's also the image of the Holy Spirit and the saints, they break the glass, and then they take the lead bars and melt them down and turn them into bullets. But for Protestants, this is not too unusual. ”

"What about restricting the pursuit of beauty and pleasure?" Louis asked, "a strict fast, no games are allowed—playing cards, rolling dice, hunting...... He didn't even allow people to go to the theaters, and the theaters in England were closed, not to mention the places where the celebrities came and went...... Listening to music, singing, and dancing were banned, festivities were in vain, and even the exchange of gifts between friends and family became a luxury, and now the only entertainment for the British was singing hymns. ”

"May God bless them. ”

"I don't know if God would be willing to bless Cromwell, but his actions will only annoy the people who had supported him. Louis said: "I heard that he also intends to restrict and reform clothing and accessories? I remember the last time someone did it." ”

"Savonarola. Bishop Mazaran said: "He is not far from us. ”

"So I'm going to say," Louis shook his head, "that Cromwell is not far from perdition." ”

"The English are not Florentine. Bishop Mazaran said.

"But as long as it is a human being," Louis pointed out pointedly, "there is no one who does not covet pleasures, and there is no one who does not like to eat delicious things, dance and sing, and wear splendid clothes, which is human nature and cannot be disobeyed." The king continued: "Of course he could be a saint himself, but firstly he was only a mortal man in the face of power, and he wanted nothing, and secondly, he was willing to give up worldly pleasures, all right, but he could not ask others to suffer with him. ”

"So you say ......"

"So I say, Mr. Bishop," Louis poured him a full glass of wine, "and if Oliver Cromwell is willing to enjoy himself as a king, if he does not forget to throw some bread and gladiatorial shows to the common people, like the Roman emperors, then his reign may continue for a while, but if he wants to be an ascetic, and all the people wear linen robes, then do not blame them for letting him go to the grave first." (It was the custom at that time that only those who insisted on dedicating themselves to God or dying could wear monk's robes)"

Bishop Mazaran took up his cup and drank it neatly: "You may be right," he said, "but it is too impiety, Your Majesty, to put it harshly, even a little too frivolous." ”

"I would say that only in front of you. The king did not bother to lift up another cup, but he only tasted it, and did not drink it as unscrupulously as Mr. Bishop, or so many people nowadays.

"What would you say in front of others?" asked Mr. Bishop.

"God will judge on behalf of the laity. Louie said.

——————

Of course, most of the time, Louis prefers to make the judgment himself.

Tonight, however, he was specially invited to the reception room of Queen Anne, who had interceded on behalf of a man whose name the King told the Queen Mother with some surprise that he did not intend to punish that man severely, namely François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort, "What makes you think that I am a cruel man?" Although the sentence has not yet been sentenced, as an accomplice, I have not been able to execute or exile Condé, and I will not treat my other relative unduly (the Duke of Beaufort was the grandson of Henry IV, the nephew of Louis XIII, and the cousin of Louis). ”

"But they all said," the Queen Mother said, pointing to the king's coat, "you have prepared a pamphlet with the names written on it that you are going to hang." ”

The king now understood how terrible the rumors in the court were, and he had to take out the pamphlet and show it to the queen mother, and there were indeed many names on it, but it was strange that some of the queen mother thought that there should be one but did not, and there should be no one.

"If this is really an ominous list," said the Queen Mother seriously, "there should be at least Gaston on it." ”

The king laughed, and so did the Queen Mother, and to say who they hated the most, there was probably no one but Gaston, Duke of Orleans, "and he would remain in Blois forever," said the king calmly: 'to hold his ambition until death. ”

"That's exactly what I expected. The Queen Mother said.

"Then tell me," the king asked, "why would you intercede for the Duke of Beaufort?" Speaking of the Duke of Beaufort, he had not been able to play much of a role in the previous battles, and the king did not even notice him at first, but it was Bishop Mazaran who gave him some reminders, and he wrote this man down in the pamphlet.

"Because he's been able to help. The Queen Mother said that at that time she was only "Anne of Austria", overwhelmed by the Medici Queen Mother Mary and Bishop Richelieu, and that at that time she had only a few loyal supporters, one of whom was the Duke of Beaufort, but after the death of Louis XIII, she began to work with Bishop Mazarin, who, for whatever reason, refused to believe in this "despicable priest" The Queen Mother Anne finally had no choice but to let Mazarin throw the Duke of Beaufort into Vincenne, which was later the place where the Prince of Condé and the Duke of Longuville were imprisoned, and after the Prince of Condé took control of Paris, the Duke of Beaufort was released, and then he did not hesitate to side with the Prince of Condé.

So he can only be described as a reckless unlucky ghost.

But apparently Queen Mother Anne remembered a little affection between them, and the King did not mind satisfying his mother's little request, and anyway he did not write down the names of these men to put them to death, on the contrary, these were experienced and excellent generals with great military talents, and Louis wrote them down so that he would not accidentally hang himself or cut off someone's head, and he envied Oliver Cromwell to death because of this, if he also had eleven generals......

Bishop Mazaran also had this consideration, although the relationship between the Duke of Beaufort and him was a bit ...... But he told the king that the Duke of Beaufort had some knowledge of warfare at sea, and the king immediately wrote him down in his pamphlet.

In fact, there were some names in the pamphlet that were not known before, such as Fouquet, such as Colbert, such as Schumberg, and the Duke of Motmar, who was a complete surprise to Louis, who had never imagined that such a man would be able to fulfill his request perfectly- Because he needed a man of noble status to do the work of a secret agent, not only that, but he also had to gain the trust of the Prince Condé, sow discord, and instigate lobbying so that the Prince of Condé would obediently act according to the king's arrangement.

Not to mention the outlandish orders that came out of nowhere on the Place de la Bastille...... The Duke of Motmar may not have understood the king's intentions, but he did it anyway and succeeded, so the first thing the king thought of was to bring him back to him as soon as possible, and if something happened he would regret it.

Today, however, the Duke of Motmar had come to bid farewell to the King, and it was understandable that the King had sent him to serve with the Prince of Condé when he was a newlywed man, and he had given the Model Duke of Mart a handsome reward, but these were no match for the shapeless rewards that the King had left the Duke of Motmar an important position, a room in Versailles, and a reserved fief for his future heir.

This made the Duke of Motmar grateful, and he swore to the king that he would return to the king as soon as possible, or that the king could summon him at any time if he needed it.

They met Varro Vesalius in the hallway.