I Am Louis XIV

Viscount Arthur of Rennes has been in a terrible mood recently.

When he heard that King Louis XIV of France was about to embark on a grand tour, he felt uncomfortable for a while.

Looking at the name, everyone, Arthur is not a French name, but from the 12th century to the present, many Dukes of Brittany have chosen this British name - this is a subtle yet direct way of resistance. People say that Brittany has been wavering between England and France until the duchess married King Louis XII of France, and Brittany had to reluctantly surrender. And because Louis XII had no son, the Duchess almost made Brittany independent again - later Francois I married the daughter of Louis XII and the Duchess, and their son Francois II After taking the throne, Brittany truly became a part of France.

But during the period of Henry IV, a riot broke out in Brittany, seeking independence. Of course, the riot was quickly put down, but the Bretons still stubbornly believed that Brittany was just a Brittany. Brittany - It is difficult for Louis XIV's officials and priests to implement the king's policies in Brittany. No matter how they coerce and induce, the Bretons will still loudly declare that they are Bretons, Not French!

They even refused the various benefits promised by the king...from potatoes to the poll tax, everything was like this, either passively or subversively, and their stubbornness was a headache.

They even began to hate the French more than the British. At least the British didn't claim Brittany as theirs, right?

Viscount Arthur never naively believed that the Sun King Louis XIV would allow Brittany to continue to exist as a country within a country - Flanders belonged to Spain, the Netherlands was simply an independent country, and Louis XIV Didn't he just go his own way and penetrate the entire lowland area? ! He fought with the Spaniards, the Austrians, and the Ottoman Turks. His appetite was never satisfied, and his eyes were always at the end of the world...

He even wanted to hold tight to the most desolate North America, America, let alone Brittany, which originally belonged to France and him.

But the message, or to be precise, the threat brought by the Duke of Saint-Simon was something that the king could easily do. Even if he didn't believe it, the king's fleet would be seen in a few days-the king would sail around the entire city in his ironclad ship. Brittany, landed in the Vannes area, and then traveled overland directly to Rennes, the capital of Brittany. In the past few days, his spies have been able to frequently detect the gathering and movement of the king's garrison on the border between Brittany and Loire. ...They are the king's most solid shield besides the guards, and they are extremely loyal - of course, if a king is willing to treat his soldiers like his nephews, he can certainly gain loyalty.

Of course, he mocked Duke Saint-Simon mercilessly - although the other party was a duke, from a genealogical perspective, everyone knew that Duke Saint-Simon's claim that they were descendants of Charlemagne was pure fabrication, and even if it was The descendants of Charlemagne, the Bretons, would not be afraid of their defeated general (Charlemagne failed to conquer Brittany). Moreover, the Duke of Saint-Simon was not only driven out of Paris by Richelieu, but he also failed to get any benefits from the son of Louis XIII. Otherwise, he would have taken on another mission when he came to Brittany.

"Charlie II is just imitating others." Viscount Arthur murmured. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the Boothliand Forest in the dark night, although he could not see anything. Less than five hundred feet away from him, envoys from the two countries each occupied a room. The British envoy was not a lord or a minister, but a wizard. Charles II was bolder than Louis XIV. More than one-third of the secret envoys were colleagues of the devil. They arrogantly demanded that Asia The Vicomte de Se was on their side against King Louis XIV of France.

Viscount Arthur was undecided.

As a Breton, he is of course willing to return Brittany to an independent state, at least seeking maximum autonomy from Louis XIV, but the problem is, if half of the information sent back by his spies is Really, then Brittany's navy will indeed encounter a difficult and powerful enemy-Louis XIV's existing fleet, let alone Brittany, even the British are afraid that it will be difficult to defeat them.

Viscount Arthur also heard about the small naval battle before Dunkirk. That kind of huge black iron-clad ship will indeed directly determine the success or failure of a naval battle. Afterwards, the British seemed to be working hard to build similar ships, but I don't know whether they succeeded. Viscount Arthur was worried that the British would incite rebellion or riots in Brittany, as they did a while ago, and let them delay Louis XIV's large-scale conquest, without considering the interests of the collaborators at all, or even To add fuel to the flames - it is not that there has never been such an embarrassing situation in history - the king of a country will also lie, shirk and fall out mercilessly. When the time comes, Brittany will have to face the king's wrath, but the British will have nothing to lose.

The Duke of Saint-Simon does not deserve the respect of Viscount Arthur, but the edict he brought is indeed true, and Louis XIV can indeed fulfill the threat he placed in front of the Bretons. Three hundred ships are enough to blockade Breton. All the ports of Taney, patrolling every fishing ground, searching every ship and fish market, the standard is here among the king's officials, but the fish, lobsters and oysters cannot withstand any delay, if the Bretons do not bow, Even if you can catch fish, you can only watch them rotting on the dock.

The same goes for another industry in Brittany, animal husbandry and butchery...

As for Compey, Viscount Arthur even had a bitter taste in his mouth. Compey's cousin had long been complaining that since Lorraine began to produce ceramics, Compey's pottery was not easy to sell.

Resistance, delay, or surrender? Viscount Arthur tossed and turned, unable to make a decision anyway, but the Sun King's fleet would not wait for him. The viscount watched the news sent by the carrier pigeon with fear. The black fleet was approaching Varnes day by day. His cousin wrote in person to tell him that the king did have an armored fleet. The battleships were covered with iron armor and spewed out With white smoke, it can travel more than forty nautical miles a day. The British never showed up, and even the caravans cautiously detoured or moved slowly. In other words, even if the Brittany surrendered to the British, the British might not be able to give the Brittany any help. .

So when those British wizards asked to enter Boothliand Forest, Viscount Arthur was even a little happy. Boothliand Forest has another name - the Lost Forest. Every year, many people enter it by mistake and end up missing. Everyone, whether civilians or nobles, is treated equally by this forest, and sometimes even those who go for search and rescue are inevitably trapped in it.

If these devil's servants died inside, he would not have to explain to Louis XIV how there were traces of the British here.

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Boothliand Forest is a dangerous and rich mysterious place for mortals, but for wizards, it is a majestic and sacred tomb.

Unlike the speculations of mortals, the wizards knew very well that Merlin's burial place was indeed here. But to find it, not to mention mortals, even wizards have a hard time. Because after Merlin was imprisoned or assassinated by Vivian, in order to prevent anyone from doing anything, the witch Morgan, who was also one of the fairies in the lake, cast magic on the path leading to Merlin's mausoleum. Anyone who steps there will If you are about to get lost, walk out if you can't get out. The wizards call it the Valley of the Lost.

The Lost Valley has the same obstacles for mortals and wizards, no, it should be said, it has a stronger obstacle to wizards. British wizards have always claimed to be orthodox, but they have not been able to get any benefits here. After another companion is dragged in, it exudes a rotten odor. Behind the quagmire of breath, a red-haired wizard couldn't help but ask: "Why didn't we move Merlin's bones back to London in the first place?"

"Maybe it's because Brittany was still the king of England at that time." Another wizard with a gray feather in his hat replied in a bad tone.

"Stop complaining," said the oldest wizard: "The matter has come to this, complaining is of no use. We are already in Boothryand, which is good. Even if we can't find Merlin, there is still something we can use here. thing."

"Those Italian wizards will protect Louis XIV." The red-haired wizard said uneasily.

"We are the descendants of Merlin," the wizard in the gray feather hat said disdainfully: "Those frivolous fools are only good at acting between beds. They gained the trust of Louis XIV just because a Gaiola witch became his spouse."

"I don't think so," said the only witch in the team: "They can turn into dragons. Someone saw it with their own eyes. Two dragons once fought over Gajola Island."

The gray feather hat made a sharp sneer. He is the representative of most male wizards in Britain. He looks down on witches and red-haired Celtic wizards. Although the former is also very powerful, the latter lived in Britain earlier than Merlin. , but since the invasion of the barbarians, that is, the Germans, the Celtic natives have become slaves and livestock. The concept of mortal class also affects wizards. Red-haired wizards also have a low status in the other world.

The older wizard coughed displeasedly. Although he was not very fond of witches and Celtics, Merlin was indeed the last king of the Celts, and Brittany can also be said to be the last gathering place of extraordinary Celtic power. It’s hard to say what will happen if you talk nonsense or show malice.

"Merry is right," the older wizard said, "I also heard that Louis XIV has an alliance not only with wizards, but also with vampires and werewolves."

"The battles between mortals should be handled by mortals themselves." Gray Feather Hat said irritably. He did not want to admit that he had felt uncomfortable since he entered the forest. Wizards have it and believe in premonitions. He made divination. Several times, I didn't get a comforting response.

"If Charles II had managed it," said the older wizard, "we would not be here, and he would not grant our request."

"Open a school like a mortal." Gray Feather Hat said: "I don't think this is a good idea. Wizards have a tradition of wizards. We can't teach students like a workshop owner recruiting apprentices. How did you convince those parents? ?”

"With Gajola and the mortal artillery ahead, I don't need to convince them." The older wizard said. "We must ensure that the power of wizards can defeat human weapons."

Witch Mellie turned her head and sighed: "Can we really do it? There are wizards, vampires and werewolves around Louis XIV, as well as priests from the Inquisition..."

"There is one thing that will definitely attract this arrogant majesty." The older wizard said.

"What?"

"King Arthur's holy sword," the older wizard answered.

"But we didn't..."

"We just need to spread the word." The older wizard said: "As long as Louis XIV is as ambitious as we know, he will definitely not let go of this opportunity to disrupt Great Britain easily."

King Arthur's holy sword generally refers to the sword of kings he wore. The name of this sword is destined to be owned by the ruler of Great Britain. You must know that just like the king of England always claims to be the king of France, the king of France also He has never given up coveting the throne of England. Once he obtains the Sword of the King, Louis XIV can claim that he is the master of destiny - the two countries. Withdrawal can trigger another civil strife in Britain, and it can be regarded as a reward for Charles II. Shiyi slapped him in the face.

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"Alas." Louis XIV raised his head, looked at Vesalius in surprise and said, "You forged a holy sword?"