【Notre Dame Cathedral】Salome of the Archdeacon

The emperor has final arrangements for the upcoming wedding ceremony of the Duke of Orleans and Princess Marguerite at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Envoys from all over the world will go to court today. Grand Duke Rand has been anxiously waiting for this matter to be finalized. He has to climb to the top floor of the frontier castle every day, and sometimes mistakes the merchants entering the city for his own envoys.

He has had enough of being bullied by England. His territory is not large, and the only resources he has are not only to provide for the needs of his own people, but also to make sacrifices to the descendants of the Edward family in England from time to time. France defeated England this time, so he has no He chose to join Louis X without hesitation. Not only did the French king not want him, but he also united with him to fight against the British, so the marriage of their two families was a certainty.

When Princess Margaret was in the boudoir of Flanders, she fell in love with a little Viscount of Burgundy at first sight, and tried to elope many times. The princess was quite dissatisfied.

Although Princess Margaret is his illegitimate daughter, she can't be so casual about marriage, and Grand Duke Flanders doesn't have many heirs, Margaret is an important member of the royal family, so Margaret was forcibly Sent to France to marry the Duke of Orleans, the current Dauphin, the marriage was decided by the Grand Duke of Flanders. Margaret could only obey the tough and stubborn father of the king and lord after the third failure of escaping marriage.

In the golden hall of the Palace of Fontainebleau, there are oil portraits of the French emperors all over the ages. The emperors are all sitting with their heads sideways, wearing dark royal robes. The only thing special is the hats on their heads. Unique, their portraits seldom wear crowns, but generally have simple hats inlaid with precious jewels. French kings think that simple decorations will be more elegant. Wear an ornate otter cape in black and white or a heavy crown of pure gold and studded with jewels.

You know, the emperor always has an unnecessary "show off" mentality. Usually, the ministers have to wait for Louis X in the main hall for a quarter of an hour before he leans on the golden scepter and is supported by the attendants. Later, Shi Shiran wandered out, and he nicknamed it: "A great ruler needs to mobilize his serious and solemn emotions before work."

But the ministers all knew that he was too old, and it was very difficult for him to walk from the harem to the main hall.

Today, Louis X is wearing a black royal robe embroidered with dark flowers, with a dark brown gown, and a simple gold-rimmed Kolff-style hat on his head, like a sailing ship, but the emperor thinks that kind of boring decoration It blocks the view, so he never wears the drape inside the hat. He was uncharacteristically the first to come to the front hall of Fontainebleau Palace this morning, waiting for his close ministers, especially the archdeacon—Don Croix De Frollo, the noblest man in France needs advice from this wise man.

Now the emperor is not only anxious about the marriage of the prince, but also many more important things: the German archbishop raised excessive money by buying and selling indulgences, and put the seminary professor Martin Luther under house arrest, which caused dissatisfaction among the people, and the theocracy showed signs of instability.Religion and imperial power are closely linked, and imperial power is bestowed by gods, and a single move affects the whole body.

The "remnants" of the Jacqueray (hillbilly) rebels who have troubled the French nobles for hundreds of years are also responding to the reform and running around. The slogan "all are equal under God" shocked Louis X with a headache , those peasant rebels are now some refugees, not enough to be any threat at all, but they are a threat to the imperial power after all, and they cannot be wiped out. Now, the emperor is terribly annoyed. He used strong force to suppress it, but the uprising rebounded even more violently.

The low-key and luxurious carriage of Notre Dame was the first to stop outside the square of Fontainebleau Palace. Claude was always the first to go to court. The palace rules were strict. No matter the ministers or the princes and relatives, they had to stand outside the palace gate for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Get off the car and get off the horse at Mi.

Captain Erwin ate a whole piece of nut bread while riding a horse, took the holster of the church carriage from the attendants, pushed open the exquisite silver-inlaid folding door like the triptych of the carriage, and took two church clerks to the ceremony Show ceremony.

Claude stepped on the silver-plated pedals, took out his hands from his arms, stretched out his slender fingers, and stepped down from the dark carriage. The silver cassock outside his snow-white gown was solemnly , spotless, with a clear hierarchy above the court, this is the official uniform of the vice-bishop.

He didn't want to participate in any arrests of the peasants of the Zacre Rebel Army, and he knew very well that it was simply not feasible to suppress the rebel army by force. The Holy See government affairs he handled included reports on the rebel army, and the emperor ordered the Holy See Guards to also participate in the arrest. Civilians, he strongly disagrees.

It's not that the archdeacon has any special sympathy for the poor people. After all, Claude is also an aristocratic class, but his rich knowledge makes him see "how to balance class issues" more thoroughly than other short-sighted nobles , he stood in front of the magnificent gate of Fontainebleau Palace, knowing one thing clearly in his heart: the aristocratic ruling class will collapse sooner or later, perhaps in hundreds of years, or even decades later, that day will come sooner or later. Contradictions tend to intensify.

The archdeacon sighed softly. Maybe he was a little unfounded, but the French Revolution three to four hundred years later proved that his guess was accurately fulfilled.

"How long can the jewels here last, and how long can Louis be the master of this place..." Claude thought to himself, he didn't want to oppress the poor, and he couldn't fight against the emperor. He knew that at this time, smart people should pretend to be stupid .

"Your Majesty, why did you come out of the palace today?" Claude stepped forward quickly, nodding slightly to Louis X in salute.

Not far behind, the carriages and horses of many ministers also stopped, and they walked here one after another. The Duke of Comontey of Reims and his son-in-law, the Duke of Paris, Balque, saw Claude and came quickly. Claude didn't have many friends. , Their relationship has always been very good.

The remaining ministers, Rick Claude, were far away. They thought that they could not curry favor with Claude and could not offend him, so they kept them at a respectful distance, and Claude was happy to "stay away from strangers" forever.

The reason why Louis X reused Claude was that he did not cuddle, did not flatter, had few friends, was outstandingly talented, and could be used by him well without threatening the emperor. Claude also understood this and was not in court. It is his way of survival to form cliques for private interests. Of course, power is also dispensable in his heart and he dismisses it.

"You're here, Mr. Vicar! I've been waiting for everyone!" Louis X warmly helped Claude to his side. He has always attached great importance to Claude's talent: last time, thanks to Claude He came up with an idea, the French army used fire to attack, this move can be called steady and ruthless, Claude's tactics were fierce and vicious, Louis X defeated Edward II's army in one fell swoop, and now the Grand Duke of Flanders dare not fight against him , and his relatives went to him, this time the king had to ask the vicar for advice humbly, and he also specially asked the crown prince to sit on the sidelines.

Claude wanted to only be a priest for the rest of his life and never take part in government affairs. Claude's talent can be regarded as the emperor's teacher. The king gave Claude the official position of teacher many times, but Claude rejected them for various reasons, but Claude Lord is essentially equivalent to the French national teacher. Now he is the teacher of the crown prince, so he has to go to court on time.

Claude really wants to say he won’t be sick today. One reason is that he wants to spend more time with his beloved newlywed wife. He is a little worried about letting Xiaosha stay with him by himself. He always cares for his gypsy girl and doesn’t want to leave her for a moment. He was worried that Xiaosha would be anxious if she couldn't find him when she woke up, although he left a note on the carefully prepared breakfast plate.

The most important thing is that today is the day when he receives his official salary. He usually does not come to the palace when he is not in class. On that day, he will be sent to the church by the royal logistics attendants. But now he is married and needs to support his family, and he has to Let Xiaosha's life be richer, and not let the beloved woman have no money. His purpose today is to rush to collect his official salary, and take the money back as soon as possible to buy a dress for Xiaosha. She must be very happy.

"My lords, I think you all know something about recent events. Let's talk about the issue of Martin Luther. The incident in Germany has affected the entire religion. The voices against the Pope are raging. It is difficult for us to be alone. The Holy See is unstable... "

"Your Majesty, let Mr. Martin Luther take refuge in our country." The minister of the pivotal office proposed an idea.

Claude stood at the side of the hall with his hands in his hands, and was among the closest ministers. He smiled politely at the emperor, and calculated his salary in his mind, which was enough for Xiaosha to spend for several months. Her life no longer had to be tight!In the evening, I can take her to eat a lot of delicious food, and study printing machines with her. She has always wanted to buy a board for letterpress printing, and I will buy it for her when I go back... and skirts. After last night and this morning, he now understands Xiaosha has a deep understanding of her figure, so she will definitely be able to buy the one that fits best and give her a surprise!

The more Claude thought about it, the warmer he felt in his heart, and he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth in relief, feeling overwhelmed with happiness when he thought of his wife.

"Master..." the crown prince called Claude in a low voice.

The emperor was surprised to find that the vice-bishop, who was usually loveless, was radiant today, with a pale smile on his face, because Claude had always looked melancholy and pale.

"Cough...My lord vicar, what's your opinion on this matter?" Louis X felt that he had seen a ghost, he didn't think that the vicious and cunning vicar would smile so softly.

"Oh." Claude turned back his warm smile and restrained his fantasies, and answered the question calmly. He is the kind of academic bully who can answer questions correctly when he is distracted in class: "Your Majesty, I think that if you follow the instructions The method of adults will not only fail to solve the problem, but will also cause an irreparable situation for our country."

"How?" The crown prince couldn't help interjecting.

Claude nodded slightly, and replied respectfully: "Martin Luther's religious reform forces are not perfect, and he has not been the Pope's opponent at all in recent years. If we take action now and protect him, we will not only offend the Pope but also offend Germany. The royal family, wouldn't it be a fire to burn yourself."

"Your Majesty, I heard that Martin Luther was your best friend during your Ph.D. studies in the seminary. Back then, you two were known as the 'Twin Heroes of the New Vatican'. You are really a ruthless villain. Ah, he has caused such a big incident, you don’t know anything about it.” The cabinet secretary challenged Claude, he wanted to make the archdeacon difficult to get rid of, either you did not report the knowledge with the Reformation gang, or you are a treacherous villain.

"I only found out now, but I already guessed that he would do this one day. With his character, it will be a matter of time. I can't compare to some people..." Claude did not rush He raised his head, his haughty chin tilted slightly, he didn't even look at that person, and chuckled contemptuously. He hated the Borgia family and the "church hooligans" very much, but he could still be indifferent They used their names to fight back against their own people: "Oh, some relatives of the Borgia family have nothing to do with the clergy, and they want to sell indulgences to make money. The Pope of Borgia should arrest you, you The gold that was given to the Pope last time was really poor, thanks to the fact that he has too many things and didn’t find them.”

"You!" The cabinet secretary jumped up angrily, forgetting that he was in a temple for a moment, and lost his dignity in front of the temple.

"Forget it, don't get mad..." Claude straightened his sleeves flutteringly, he didn't care about other people's emotions, and said softly, "Your Majesty, I have long thought of a wonderful idea, which can not only appease the anger of the people, but stabilize the situation."

"What? Don't play tricks on me." We are familiar with the cardinal as an active young man. He is a bit untenable when he hears strategies and tricks, so he just wants to go out and have some fun.

"My lord, please tell me." The crown prince stared at Balk speechlessly. They are good classmates, but he can't rely on him at all. Balk can't help him, only the teacher can.

"Why don't we go directly to the Pope." Claude raised his eyebrows.

"Martin is against the Holy See, do you think it's okay to ask the Pope?" The king felt that it was not possible, he had always been afraid of the Borgia family.

Claude came slowly, waving his hands unhurriedly: "The bishops in Germany are shameless, they suppressed the common people too tightly, and even arrested Martin. Things will be reversed...I heard that Caesar, the eldest son of Pope Borgia, recently Looking for troubles from all over the world, to establish their reputation, they have fought many wars with the Germans, but they have never won. It is better to let him settle this matter and persuade the German royal family to release Martin. It seems that he is capable of accepting him. Dad’s Pope class, we don’t need to intervene, this matter will be digested internally.”

"But I can't go to Caesar Borgia. As the king of France, I can't intervene, and how can I be sure that Caesar will not attack Germany? It will be even more troublesome then!" Louis X thought this was the best There was a way, but he didn't trust Caesar Borgia as a person.

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured that Caesar is a very intelligent person. He knows how to maximize his interests. Fighting is not good for him. He can not only stabilize the situation in the Holy See, establish prestige, but also take the opportunity to win a fortune from the German archbishop. Why not?" Don’t do it.” Everyone saw that Claude stood up straight and calm, and handed the last topic to the Duke of Comontey. Under his ingenious arrangement, all problems were easily solved: “Besides, we still have Someone ready to talk to the Pope, isn't it, Duke Comonteil."

The Duke of Comontey is very good at fighting, but he is not good at strategizing, and he is getting more and more timid when he is old. He wants to help Claude and the emperor, so he is a little embarrassed: "Yes, Your Majesty, Mrs. Chen's cousin is Mrs. Christine of the Borgia family, she is a relative of the Pope, she can just write a letter to Caesar, but who among us can invite her? No one dares!"

Claude helped the Duke of Comonteil to solve the problem again, and handed over the decision to the emperor: "Mrs. Christine's daughter really wants to be the princess' best man. Christine loves her daughter the most, and if we France The peasants are constantly revolting, Mrs. Christine has to lose a lot of tax revenue for such a large piece of land, it is most suitable for her to find Caesar Borgiatti, but you only need to let her daughter enter the palace as the largest female official, Mrs. Christine is a relative of Borgia. She has been worrying that she is not noble enough. She is too rich, so she just wants fame and status. She can't wait to buy her daughter an official position as a best man. The words 'flying to the top'."

Claude's younger brother, John, has a relationship with Miss Christina, but Claude doesn't want to get involved in these things at all, and he doesn't want to let his family work for the court. He himself is struggling in the court, and he wants to It's very simple to deal with Borgia, just give them what they want, it's that straightforward.

Claude doesn't want to worry about it anymore, and he doesn't bother to use his wisdom to come up with ideas. He has been a ruthless person for long enough, and now he prefers to read books with Xiaosha, and he also wants to teach his wife to write Hebrew Well, he felt that he was wasting his beautiful married life, and he always thought about his wife wherever he went.

"Very well, this matter is settled like this. I can hire Christina Borgia as the bridesmaid of the Crown Princess, and let Caesar Borgia go to the people to resent it. We will wait for the situation to stabilize." The aged king He was very happy that the wisdom of this young man, the archdeacon, always satisfied him, and he hoped that the crown prince would learn from him seriously.

"The stragglers of the Zacklei uprising are even more insignificant. They have no soul, they just want to establish themselves as kings. They are the worst army I have ever seen. How many people are there now? I'm afraid there won't be even a pile of them left. We can set fires in the yamen everywhere, catch one and kill one, but we can use the policy of softness, use softness to overcome rigidity, and disappear without a trace in a few days." When Claude said this, he saved the lives of those peasants. The king provided a more popular and safer solution, and the king was also willing to take his opinion. Louis X was old, but he was not stupid. In this era, he was considered a qualified king.

Claude sighed deeply, he just didn't have this ambition, he had no interest in conspiracies and tricks, but the king always asked him to come up with these tricks, Claude, who was a vice bishop, had been a little bit away since he was 20 years old, he was originally He doesn't care about anything, he is already very great at such a young age, he has no ambitions, but he has a lofty ideal, but he can't achieve it, he will always look unlovely and indifferent when he is disappointed, his Grim and gloomy, it would be no exaggeration to say he was a piece of granite stone or a shroud.

Not so long ago, he still had the attitude of "he won't blink an eye when anyone dies in front of his eyes".But now he has an inexplicable love, maybe love has awakened the softness in his heart again, he feels like he has returned to the young, full of blood, and kind youth, he can no longer be inferior to anyone Ruthless, his tongue is still sharp, and his appearance is still very gloomy, but his heart has changed, but his heart is gentle enough to drip water.

He also knows that if he continues to be a falcon dog for the emperor and kills civilians, Xiaosha will never talk to him again, and his conscience will never allow him to do that. Madam doesn't like war and oppression, and his His beloved wife was born in a poor family. He is kind in nature, coupled with his love for the house and his family, now he loves the poor a little bit more. He envies the bravery of his best friend Martin Luther, dared to reform the religion, and said "no" to the Pope; Zachary Called: "Under God, all are equal" was also his political ideal.

Everyone else left the court muttering, and Emperor Louis walked off the stage. He thought that everything could be resolved perfectly. He wanted to reward Claude, but he didn't know what to give. He didn't want money or officials.

"One more thing, Your Majesty, I have to quickly withdraw my salary today." Claude is very concerned about his "salary" today.

The king was also a little strange, he usually didn't care at all, and every time he had to send it to him, what happened today.

"Come on, how much is the official salary of the vice-bishop?" The old king was old and couldn't remember how much the official salary of the state teacher was.

"I've calculated, Your Majesty, about four Louis pure gold coins and 180 small eagles." Claude was a little uncomfortable, he felt a little fussy, he was not used to it, but he wanted to take it back to Xiaosha, I just want to be right.

"Add more money." The king thought that Claude needed money urgently when something happened, so he could just reward him.

"No need, Your Majesty, this money is enough, can you reward me with something else?" Claude didn't want a penny other than the money he deserved.

"You said, what do you want?" The crown prince took the vice bishop's request very seriously, and the teacher never asked for anything.

Claude found that the dresses of the court ladies were very beautiful, thinking that the materials in the palace must be good, he hesitated and asked for a piece of fabric to make a skirt for me: "Can you give me a batch of fabrics for palace clothes? I want a woman. clothing."

"Sure, but what do you want women's clothes for?" The crown prince was very surprised, and the master didn't have any women.

Claude blushed and held back for a long time. A tall and gloomy mature man squirmed and looked funny: "I made a skirt for my wife, and I ruined her clothes."

"Okay, okay...I said why are you absent-minded, so that's the case. I am still pursuing love at such an age, and my Madame Beauge is very good." The king couldn't keep his eyes open, and the elderly needed a lot of nap time. I haven't slept well since I thought about the problem at night, and now I'm finally relaxed.

"Father! There is no need to bring up Mrs. Beauge's matter in the court...Miss Anne! Does the princess have any good fabric?" The princess went to study in the private library, and Anne Boleyn waited for Balk outside the door in her spare time. The Dauphin saw her and stopped her.

Anne Boleyn has never forgotten Miss Salome. As soon as she heard that the archdeacon was going to court, she wanted to inquire how he and his wife were doing. After a while, she hugged a horse as soft and shining as a sparkling water The silk and satin rushed over.

"Does she like white brocade? This piece of satin was brought by the Arab envoy. Give it to her to make a skirt. It can be made into a whole palace-style long skirt and there is still some left over. This color is the most beautiful. This thin red Aya must look good as a belt." Anne handed a large piece of satin to Claude.

"Thank you." Claude held the silk and rubbed it repeatedly with his fingertips. This is the best brocade, made of pure white silk. The official uniform on his body is made of this material.

"I really hope she is also the princess's bridesmaid. I will go back to England soon. I really hope she can take over from me. The princess always wants to sing and dance. She is tired of watching our court dance." Anne felt that she was the queen's It is expected that Henry VIII may fall in love with her. Recently, Princess Margaret saw her thoughts and was very angry with her, because Queen Catherine of England is Princess Margaret's best friend, and Anne wanted to rob Catherine. Man, Margaret naturally looked down on her, but Anne insisted on going back to England so that she could realize her ambition, and she wanted to be on an equal footing with Princess Margaret.

"I'll tell her." Claude held the snow-white brocade very preciously, with a red belt on it, counted the money and put it in the pocket around his waist. He was careful, as if he had brought all his belongings to look for it. I.

Claude carefully prepared a whole block of snow-white cheese with small mint leaves and strawberries on it, a large glass of apple juice, a salad of fruits and vegetables, and a large piece of fried steak.

I climbed to the window to look at the stables, Claude's horse was grazing, Quasimodo was grooming the horse and the cow, the unicorn was licking Quasimodo's face affectionately, this is not a unicorn Meat, I am relieved.

There was a small roll of paper next to the neat white dinner plate. I took a sip of apple juice, chewed my food, and opened the small paper: "Dear lady, don't look, this is not unicorn meat, because I'm a good person, don't worry, I'm going to court, today is my salary day, you will be a little rich woman soon, don't be happy! I will leave you a pen and paper, you have to remember to do your homework, later When I come back to pick you up, you will witness that I have won against Phoebes, and I will let him kowtow to you."

……

I have nothing to do with the homework that Claude left for me. He is too rigorous about learning. I am like this. Can you let me take a leave of absence? He left me a portrait painting homework and Hebrew Transcribed, he even prefaced each paragraph with fine print.

I read the last paragraph of the note repeatedly and thought it was very funny. I don’t want Phoebus to kowtow to me. I don’t have such an unfilial son like him. How could Claude be so funny to me.

After my disc operation, I was sitting on the edge of the bed, crazy and messy, my clothes were broken, I could only put on Claude's black priest's robe, I was afraid to go out, sitting on the bed swinging the huge sleeves, he was wearing very It fit, and turned into a witch-like floor-length dress on me. The bandages on my body were scattered all over the bed, and I was swaying my feet and staring blankly.

Claude handed the satin to the tailor shop to make it quickly, and reported my [-]D figure very accurately. I knelt down to him, and he was able to count on one side and the other on the other. He specifically requested that the red belt be made into a bow. Like a bandage on my head.

I was bored lying on the bedside to draw his portrait, turned the fluffy bed curtain back and forth, and crawled to the ground to learn Hebrew after painting, I have to study hard, who asked me to marry a prudish Xueba?