Versailles is worse than being queen

◎The king is dead!Long live the king! ◎

The news is always distorted and magnified in the process of dissemination - at this time, His Majesty the King has not died yet.

However, the distance is not far away.He collapsed on the bed due to a sudden stroke, dying.

Louis XV was 65 years old, and his life went smoothly, so he was called "Louis the Beloved".

When he was a baby, a smallpox plague swept the French royal family. His parents and elder brother were all killed in the plague, but he miraculously survived alone.

Great-grandfather Louis XIV reigned for a full 72 years. All his sons and grandsons died earlier than the king himself, except for the second grandson Felipe who was named king of Spain after the War of Spanish Succession. The 5-year-old Louis XV ascended the throne directly.

In his later years, Louis XIV resorted to militarism and construction, which almost consumed the wealth of the entire country.Before he died, he called the 5-year-old crown prince to his bed and said to him: "Don't be obsessed with construction and war like me, you have to live in peace with your neighbors... Try to save people from suffering, this is what I did not It can be done."

If he hadn't had too many mistresses and squandered too much property on these women, the French would probably have loved him for a long, long time—

But when he was dying of a stroke, the church refused to hear his confession and let him receive Holy Communion unless he drove out his mistress.

Feeling that the vitality in his body was being withdrawn bit by bit, the king was not willing to let Mrs. Dubari leave, but also feared the coming of death.In the end, the fear of death finally triumphed over love.

"Jeanna, you..." he murmured.

The mistress, who was still young and charming, looked at him coldly and said nothing.

The dying patient on the bed swallowed hard, closed his eyes and waved his hands.

Several guards came over.

"Go away!" Madame Dubarly stood up suddenly, "I can walk by myself."

She walked through the long corridor where many princes and nobles were waiting, and walked past the Earl of Artois who was about to be promoted to the king's brother, and the three pale-faced princesses—the young crown prince and his wife had not yet arrived from Paris.Count Artois snorted with a sneer just now: "Louis likes to go to Paris recently...it's ridiculous."

Almost everyone cast a cold and contemptuous look at the mistress.

Madame du Barry stared back unflinchingly—could it be that they hated her so much because she was corrupt and extravagant?

no.They just resented that they didn't have the opportunity to corrupt their morals and indulge in extravagance like her.

However, she was actually flustered.

If the king is really dead, then her backing is gone.

And now it seemed that the king had almost no chance of surviving.

As she walked, her eyes suddenly stopped.

Behind the Earl of Provence, who just arrived not long ago, there is another person... a little familiar.

Madame du Barry looked at him for a moment, then quickly turned her eyes away and walked over.

Her pace gradually quickened.

Maybe something is about to happen.

The sinful mistress left, and the priest finally came to the king mercifully.

It is a pity that even God cannot save the king at this time.

When the crown prince and his wife rushed back to the Palace of Versailles from Paris, Louis XV finally swallowed his last breath.

When the aging body was dissected by professional corpse handlers, the heart, internal organs and other bones were stored separately, and sea salt was applied to the body for dehydration and embalming treatment, the king of France who also killed his son finally died It became a symbol in history, heralding the end of one era - and the beginning of another.

In the long silence of the Palace of Versailles, people saluted the young crown prince and his wife as they walked through the promenade—no, they are now the new king and queen of France.

……

The funeral of the late king was solemnly held, and the coffin containing the king's body was slid into the tomb.

"The king is dead! Long live the king!" This embarrassing funeral etiquette is already a French tradition.

At the moment of burial, a new king was born.

"Pray for the soul of the illustrious sovereign, King Louis XV of France."

"Long live King Louis of France, by the grace of God!"

"Long live Louis 16!" The crowd followed the mountain and shouted.

Although the newly enthroned king is young, he is not too young—at least he is an adult, while the previous king was only 5 years old when he took the throne, and he was even less than 5 years old when he took office.

Although Louis XVI, who had just become king, hadn't entered the role yet, and often couldn't control the awkward look on his face, he was very resolute and immediately promulgated two heavy decrees——

First, on the basis of fiscal reform, tax reform has begun.

Second, the new royal court will officially move back to the Louvre in Paris, and the nearly 100-year history of the Palace of Versailles as the French royal court will come to an end.

Different from the past, these two decrees were circulated almost simultaneously in Versailles and Paris, which aroused completely different reactions among nobles and commoners, but they were equally powerful.

Regarding the tax reform, although the exact method of reform has not yet been explained, almost everyone understands who will benefit the most in the current tax system-the priests and nobles who have immunity will soon be unable to sit still.

Almost immediately, opposition to the king's reform of the tax system was heard in Paris - why should the king use people's money to pay for a budget that he doesn't know what to do?

But the rumor didn't last long.

Because many newspapers published various news one after another—although some were analyzed by unnamed officials in the palace, and some were analyzed by experts and scholars from nowhere, but the quarrels of good and bad quality quickly focused on a few things.

Don't know what to budget for?How long has it been since the person who said this has not paid attention to current affairs?Do you know that starting from this year, the royal family has formulated and announced the annual budget?

As for the people's money... who the hell are the people?Is it the majority who are overwhelmed by high taxes, or the nobles and priests who enjoy high privileges and do not have to pay taxes?

On the other side, the nobles who tried to obstruct the decree were soon shocked to find that although the new king did not have such a firm character, the queen gave him enough determination to take action immediately——

He simply ignored the nobles who protested the most, just did what he said, and returned to Paris with the most necessary group of officials and servants.

Before that, the king and queen had lived and worked in the Louvre regularly for quite some time, and now everything is seamlessly connected until those who live in Versailles move back to Paris again.

By this time, the first power plant in Paris had been built.

Many streets are under construction, and the lampposts that originally hung kerosene lamps have been replaced one by one.According to the statement released by the royal family, kerosene lamps are less safe and easy to disturb the horses. They are currently being replaced in batches with electric lights-for this reason, the necessary power supply and wiring system are under construction.

Another surprising change is the development of the newspaper industry.

I don’t know when, someone suddenly discovered that the signboard of the "Rheinische Zeitung" appeared on the street, and it seemed that the peddlers who sold the original underground newspapers no longer needed to hide from the Paris police.

... Although not explicitly stated, the king seems to have acquiesced!

All this has brought an unparalleled sense of excitement to the people of Paris - saying goodbye to the aging king who has been sleeping with a woman on the throne for too long, and they really feel that the new king will bring a new era to France. s future.

"Long live the king! Long live the queen!" Every time the king's carriage traveled from the Louvre through the streets and alleys of the city, people cheered and crowded to the side of the street to watch, throwing seasonal flowers on the carriage.

Everything is going too well, Antanya thought.

Of course, many years ago, she cut off the network of public opinion that was sent to the city by the aristocrats who shuttled between the Palace of Versailles and Paris. Newspaper correspondents to avoid misinterpretation and spreading rumors by people with ulterior motives. As her news director at this moment, Henriette is very familiar with these things.

But she knew that this was actually a matter of great power—this power lurking underneath might be able to overthrow this country.

It was at this time that she received a letter from Vienna.

The letter was from Joseph to her.

The Crown Prince of Austria congratulated his sister on becoming the Queen of France, and talked about the current situation of the brothers and sisters in the family. At the end, he mentioned that because of the recent provocations by Prussia in Silesia, he finally persuaded his parents and decided to lead the troops to the front line himself. Ashamed, he took back Silesia in one go.

Antanya bit her lower lip subconsciously after reading this.

There was so much territorial friction between Prussia and Austria that she couldn't even remember what the battle was like around this time.

But she knew one thing-at this time, Prussia had the most powerful army on the entire continent under the leadership of Frederick II, and Silesia never returned to Austria.

She picked up the pen thoughtfully, considering whether to write a letter to dissuade her brother who was furious with Prussia.

Patience is never a comfortable thing to do, but it is the right thing to do a lot of the time.

"What's wrong?" Louis pushed the door open and walked in.

"It's nothing, I will write a reply to my brother later." Antanya said.

"Joseph?" Louis smiled, "You can invite him to visit Paris next time."

He casually picked up the wine jug on the side, refused the servant who wanted to pour him wine, poured himself a glass and started to drink.

At this moment, the door was suddenly knocked open with a "bang".

It was Henriette who broke in, and behind him was a person that no one expected—Mrs. Dubarry.

"What's wrong?" Antanya asked with a frown.

Henriette shouldn't be so ignorant of etiquette, could something urgent happen?

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Henriette pointed to Madam Dubarry out of breath.

Madame Dubarry's plump body was panting, and her eyes were full of anxiety: "Your Majesty, they are going to poison you to death!"

At this moment, the sound of glass shattering exploded.

"Cough! Cough cough cough!" Louis coughed heart-piercingly, his face flushed rapidly, and his eyes popped out suddenly, "Antoinette! I, I can't see..."

"Louis!" Antanya dropped the letter and ran towards him.

"My God!" Madame Dubally screamed in terror, her hands trembling. "They've done it! They've done it!"

The young king was convulsing wildly, but he was too big for Antanya to hold him, so she had to drag him desperately to the sofa.

"Doctor!" Antanya's mind went blank, her voice was almost not her own, "Call the doctor!"

The author says:

The poison used for poisoning and its effect refer to "The Count of Monte Cristo".