The Duke of Saint-Simon had imagined a lot - how Louis XIV would respond to his blackmail - The king might have dealt with him as he had done with Fouquet, nay, unlikely, for the Duke of Saint-Simon had not yet entered the court of Louis XIV, had not received any office, and the king could not punish him for malfeasance or corruption, and he had thought that the king would seek evidence of his collusion with Leopold I or any foreign power, so he was always careful that all agreements were made only verbally and not in letters, and he never even spoke face to face with the envoys sent by those men, and he also thought of the injustice which the Duke of Luxembourg had suffered— that is, the ridiculous crime of perjury and murder, although anyone with a little brain knows that it is a conspiracy - how could a duke with a fiefdom and a huge fortune join forces with a priest and a crook to defraud a few hundred livres of money? and risk a few lives? But in political struggles, such ridiculous implications were not uncommon, and the Duke of Luxembourg was fortunate that Louis XIV needed generals, and those who tried to drag him to hell did not succeed.

Otherwise, even if the Duke of Luxembourg were ultimately found not guilty, the time spent in prison alone would have destroyed his body and reputation.

The Duke of Saint-Simon was also very careful about this, as he hardly left his domain, let alone to Paris or Versailles, his territory was well managed, he had many reliable cronies, and he also had some soldiers, even if things were the worst, he felt that he had a chance to escape to London like the Duke of Vendôme.

He's got wizards by his side. Louis XIV had a wizard by his side, this secret is no longer a secret, the worst guess of the Duke of Saint-Simon is that the king will let a wizard curse him, so he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to hire a wizard by his side, he is quite reliable, the Duke of Saint-Simon can have a son in the year of the sixtieth year, and the wizard's secret medicine is also inseparable.

However, the Duke of Saint-Simon felt that things would not deteriorate so much that he had to choose the latter two endings, not because he was too arrogant or too stupid, but because there were always people who could not shake off the influence of old ideas.

The kingship of Europa was not strong until the twelfth century, and it can be traced back to the collapse of the Roman Empire, which was divided by barbarians such as Germans, Celts, and Slavs. Although their descendants claimed to be the light of human civilization after two thousand years, at that time, they were indeed just a group of barbarians who could not even establish a complete, top-down system of rule, and there were deep tribal traces in their rule, even if they were kings, they had to divide their land into various princes, and then they lived in a territory around the capital, saying that they were kings, but they were no different from a big princes, and many times, the king had to back down or maintain respect in front of lords who had soldiers and territories。

This continued until the kings began to cooperate with the Church, and the kings used the power of faith to proclaim their orthodoxy and purity, to unite themselves with God (when the king ascended the throne, he did claim that the king was united with the Holy Spirit), in order to demand loyalty and strength from the princes, to make themselves the only voice in the army, as can be seen in the Nine Crusades.

But when the church gradually became a behemoth, the kings had one more enemy - the kings no longer pointed their swords at the infidels, because sending troops under the call of the church was undoubtedly increasing the bargaining chips for the church, so they turned their troops towards each other, and the war between the kings and the kings, of course, had two major fuses, territory and money, but no one could doubt that all wise kings would suck blood from the princes through such wars- Because the lords also have to fulfill the mission of vassals, and fighting with the king is one of the things that must not be shirked.

Then, after nearly a thousand years of fighting, the merchants also became a force entangled, of course, not as merchants, but in the masks of a free city, a free port, or a lower council, the burgher class in the three councils, sometimes in favor of the lord, sometimes in favor of the king, but in the final analysis it was all for their own benefit, as was common in Italy and the Netherlands.

So, if there had been a king who had adhered to tradition, the Duke of Saint-Simon's plan might have succeeded, but he should have thought that Louis XIV had never been a man of the rules—the king might not have treated them as criminals, imprisoned or put to death, but he could have "invited" them to the palace for a year-long procession, and no, he might even have taken them straight back to Paris, to the Palace of Versailles— For them, it was just a change of captivity, but for the uninformed, they were given the supreme glory and became the king's favorite, even if they were for a year, two years, three years...... People would take it for granted not to have contact with the territory, or to leave all the affairs of the territory to the king's officials, but of course, didn't you see so many people crowded in Versailles just to seek such an opportunity?

But his accomplices, the Duke of Saint-Simon, said that those who were arrested, or who were still vacillating, must have secretly gnashed their teeth, and they must have felt that the Duke had betrayed them in order to gain the king's favor...... And what could he do? He could shout at banquets and balls that he had indeed betrayed the king, and had colluded with foreign powers? he could not even complain that he had been kidnapped not by invitation, but by the procession of the king—who would believe it? In order to be one of the five thousand, a letter of recommendation from Madame de Montspan, or the Duke of Orleans, had been raised to a thousand liverets.

The Duke of Saint-Simon thought bitterly that he would probably be treated with three thousand or five thousand livres, that is, to sit down at the meal to a place where he could see the king, and perhaps the king would give him a glass of wine, and Madame de Montespan would give him a beautiful smile, and the crown prince or the lord of the county would deign to say a few words to him.

Anyway, he can't clear his name.

The Duke of Saint-Simon did not far from expect, and after the banquet, Louis XIV rewarded him with a bag of gold louis, so that he could enjoy a game of gambling.

In the days that followed, the Duke of Saint-Simon was almost on pins and needles in the eyes of the people, and he thought about escaping, but the attendants and servants around him were more vigilant than the three-headed dogs in front of Hades, and they did not accept any bribes or threats, and the skillful and calm posture made the Duke of Saint-Simon wonder if Louis XIV had such a plan twenty years earlier.

It is not known whether Louis XIV had such a plan twenty years ago, but it is true that the Duke of Saint-Simon and the others could not find a way out until the king set out from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and they got into the carriage in frustration, and the carriage was frustrated, with the king's guards beside it, "Where are we going?" the Duke of Saint-Simon asked slowly, glancing at the well-dressed, well-bodied, and well-equipped cavalry.

"Calais and Dunkirk. "The Duke of Vendôme and the Duke of Saint-Simon sat in the same carriage, the former sworn enemies, later colleagues, and now non-conspirators, glared at each other for a while, and then withdrew their gaze, the Duke of Saint-Simon glanced at the attendants beside him, and Mr. Joseph next to the Duke of Vendôme, it seems that he wants to take the opportunity to blackmail the Duke of Vendôme to ask the king to release him, of course, how could the king suddenly be stupid and give him this opportunity?

"I have heard that in addition to what we have seen, there are an army of fifty thousand men following the king. The Duke of Saint-Simon paused for a moment, and said with a little reluctance: "Is the king so afraid of his subjects? 50,000 people can start a war." ”

"I don't know what your plans are," said the Duke of Vendôme, slowly adjusting his shoulder straps, which were bright red enough to stab Duke Saint-Simon in the eye, "but I may tell you that you are very wrong to think that fifty thousand soldiers are running around with the king." He smiled and said, "They say that Your Majesty has 50,000 loyal soldiers to guard you, but they only mean the garrison where the king is." ”

Duke Saint-Simon's face darkened suddenly: "I don't believe it. ”

"You have always been like this, Claude, but things in the world are never static, for twenty years, my good sir, the king has been expanding his standing army, and perhaps your spies will tell you that the king now has an army of 100,000 troops, but that is only the army of Paris and Versailles, and Orleans, the most powerful, and the most superficial, and known to all. "You may not have noticed what the king had sent down to do in the twenty years of Louis XIV's reign, even when he was at war with the Netherlands, that he had not been good to these poor people for no reason, and that he demanded their loyalty and obedience, as he had been to the outcasts of Versailles—every young man had to be educated and trained, yes, even in your domain." ”

Duke Saint-Simeon moved his lips, of course he knew, but ...... He, like all the nobles, thought that the poor were ignorant, even if they were educated and trained, and that they were short-sighted and ungrateful, and that they were destined to remain a herd of cattle and horses driven only by whips and food—and no matter what the king did, these deplorable things would follow their baton if they were the slightest provocation, incitement, and demagoguery.

Although it is said...... The Duke of Saint-Simon must also admit that his people are not as obedient as they used to be, but to say that young men who have only learned a little counting and words from the priests, and have done some strange training, can be called soldiers of the king...... Then it was not impossible for Louis XIV to boast that he had 50,000 soldiers with him, and he may have smiled contemptuously, for he saw that the Duke of Vendôme was raising his eyebrows.

Then the Duke of Vendôme did not speak again, and the carriage had been walking on the flat road for about three quarters of an hour, and was about to leave Saint-Germain-en-Laye, when the Duke of Saint-Simon suddenly opened the curtain because he heard someone singing outside.

"God bless our king......" As soon as he heard the initial tone and lyrics, the Duke of Saint-Simon immediately guessed that this was "God Save the King" composed by the king's music director, Lully, because the song used to welcome sycophants had simple lyrics and easy tones, so it spread from Paris to all parts of France at once, and even the Duke of Saint-Simon, who did not like Louis XIII or Louis XIV, had to be "familiar" with the song, because almost everyone would hum a few words.

He looked out through the gap in the curtain and saw a crowd of people, some on horseback, some on mules, and many more on foot, following the king's caravan through the fields on both sides of the road, everyone cheerfully, men, women, and children, dressed in their best clothes, "Who are these? Are they from Saint-Germain-en-Laye?"

"Yes or no. "They were farmers and craftsmen in the neighborhood," Joseph said. ”

The Duke of Saint-Simon did not speak, he carefully surveyed the crowd, some of them were slowly falling because they could not walk, but more people came from all directions, so the number became more and more numerous, and then as the number increased, a special sight also attracted the attention of the Duke of Saint-Simon, that is, these people almost all had blue and red ribbons on their bodies, the ladies tied around their necks, and the men tied on their shoulders or pinned to their chests.

The blue color belonged to the royal family, and the red color belonged to Louis XIV.

Their singing also grew louder and louder: "God bless our king and wish him a long life...... God bless the king, I wish him invincibility, God bless the king, I wish him eternal glory...... "Their numbers quickly outnumbered the king's escorts, and although Louis XIV could not be seen, the Duke of Saint-Simon immediately turned to see the face of the Duke of Vendôme, but it was a pity that they did not panic once they came.

It was still three hours before they saw the gates of the city again, and there was always a crowd following the king along the way, and the king's guards did not drive them away, nor did they feel nervous, but looked at them with a grin—they gathered and scattered like a swarm of bees, and flickered like streams in the woods, and the Duke of Saint-Simon at first scoffed at the Duke of Vendôme's so-called 50,000 soldiers, but as time went on, his expression became more and more solemn.

The welcome of the people of Saint-Germain-en-Laye to the king may be interpreted as a strict demand from the mayor or as a degrading form of flattery, but what about these people, who have come and gone in tens of thousands of people, singing songs in praise of the king, following him all the way, and no one has come to show his honor to the king, does that mean that they are really sincere? As long as their support for the king is one-tenth true, then even if the king does not have a single attendant by his side, as long as he shouts, it is not impossible that an army of 50,000, nay, 100,000, or even 200,000, 300,000 people can be gathered around him......

"How is that possible......" muttered Duke Saint-Simon.