Duchy of Lorraine, Castle of Metz.
Starting from March 10th, King Louis XIV of France led his 100,000 French troops to cross the Mosel River and camped in Metz Castle and its surrounding areas. It has been more than 20 days now.
This large army arrived in Lorraine in the name of saving Vienna, but after arriving in Lorraine, it made no progress for more than twenty days. The one hundred thousand troops and the favorites and mistresses who arrived with Louis XIV were all idle. The French soldiers were busy harassing the people in Lorraine, which naturally caused a lot of confusion and resentment among the people.
Louis XIV and his favorites and mistresses lived a more prosperous life, busy with various dances, banquets, and safaris. It’s just that no one dares to mention the rescue of Vienna... Anyone who dares to mention it will definitely fall out of favor immediately and become a person on the blacklist in the Sun King’s pocket.
The reason is very simple, that is, the Sun King's hot face seems to be attached to the cold buttocks of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.
Especially after he learned that tens of thousands of troops from the Ottoman Empire rushed all the way after leaving Belgrade and attacked the Fortress of Gyor, he really wanted to take his 100,000 troops to Vienna to join in the fun, but he was garrisoned The troops of the Holy Roman Empire in the Rhine area were blocked. Ferdinand Maria, the Grand Duke of Bavaria, who led troops stationed in the Rhine area, was very polite to the envoy sent by Louis, saying that the Sun King could lead an army to support, and everyone in the Holy Roman Empire was very grateful, but now The French troops cannot be allowed to enter because they have not yet received permission from His Majesty the Emperor... So please His Majesty the Sun King to wait patiently!
What is this word? In order to protect God, the King of France brought an army of 100,000 to save Vienna, and he actually needed the approval of the Holy Roman Emperor... Who is the biggest in Europe? The Sun King or the Holy Roman Emperor?
Louis XIV's big nose was so angry that he would have wanted to send troops to attack the Rhineland if it weren't for the current enemy of Catholic Europe... But no matter how angry he was, there was nothing he could do with Ferdinand Maria.
The Grand Duke of Bavaria is currently leading an army of 15,000 to guard a series of bastions along the Rhine River!
These bastions were built at a huge cost after the Heritage War. They are very strong!
These damn Germans... actually used bastions to defend themselves against the French Sun King who loved them! A bastion should be built in Hungary to protect against the Tianfang cultists! How can one cultivate in the Rhineland to defend against the Sun King?
This is pain for relatives and pleasure for enemies!
It's just that it's useless no matter how painful Louis XIV is. The Germans won't let him cross the border, so he can only squint in Lorraine, and he is too embarrassed to return to Paris... When he left Paris, he said enough Big talk, saying that he was going to be the savior of Vienna.
It's better now, people are blocking the door even to the Holy Roman Empire...it's just for your own entertainment to give back the Sun King and the European Big Brother, right?
So Louis is now stuck in Lorraine, unable to advance or retreat, and has no choice but to spend time eating, drinking and having fun in Metz with a bunch of favorites and mistresses.
He didn't want to hear the news from the Holy Roman Empire, but he had to listen... He, the Sun King, had to maintain the demeanor of a monarch of a major European country! After Leopold defeated the group of Tianfang believers who had invaded deeply, he had to send envoys to congratulate him, announce the good news to the army in Lorraine, and go to the church to remember all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend the Catholic Church.
As the Sun King, even if he was slapped in the face by Leopold, he still had to show off his dignity and not let the French nobles and common people look down upon him.
Thinking of these, the Sun King was in a terrible mood.
I don’t know if he was thinking about it every day or dreaming about it at night. He actually dreamed of Leopold last night! And he knelt down to Leopold, knelt down and kissed Leopold's smelly feet... Oh my God! How could there be such a ridiculous dream? He is the Sun King! The king of the most powerful country in Europe, no, the most powerful country in the world, how could he kneel down to Leopold? She even kissed his feet... He couldn't wash his feet!
Although it's not true, you can't have such a dream!
What made Louis XIV even more unbearable was that he still apologized to Leopold in his dream... It was so irritating. Why did he apologize to Leopold, a bastard?
Because of this dream, Louis XIV was unhappy all day long. Not only did he cancel a masquerade party, but he also scolded his mistress, Madame Montespan, and the Countess of Soissons (Olympia Mancini). Let the two women disappear from you immediately!
But as soon as the two mistresses disappeared, Louis' mood became even worse. He couldn't even eat lunch and sulked alone in his bedroom in Metz Castle.
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door, and the voice of a palace attendant came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs wants to see you urgently!"
"No!" Louis roared, "I won't see anyone today!"
"The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said that the request for an audience was related to Leopold I!"
"Damn..." Louis muttered, "Come in!"
The door was pushed open, and a foreign minister with a sad face walked in hurriedly and bowed to Louis XIV.
Seeing Hugo Leona's expression, Louis XIV's heart skipped a beat... something bad must have happened!
"Your Majesty, Father Marco de Aviano has arrived in Lorraine!" Hugo Riona said, "He has brought us terrible news!"
This priest was the leader of the Mission Order under the Franciscan Order and an important staff member of Leopold I. He was mainly responsible for foreign affairs and internal affairs.
Why did this guy come to Lorraine?
"Terrible?" Louis XIV frowned and asked, "What news is it?"
"Your Majesty..." Hugo Leona's voice trembled a little, "Leopold I became a saint!"
What? Became a saint?
Louis XIV was stunned again and again, "Hugo, if I remember correctly, only those who have died and are now in heaven with Jesus Christ can be Christian saints! Could it be that Leopold... .”
"Your Majesty, he died in the Battle of Gerburg..." Hugo Riona said, "His army was defeated by the Tianfang Cultists, and he himself was shot to death by the Tianfang Cultists' snipers with rifled guns. Got it!"
Leopold I was indeed sanctified. For a man of his status who died in the war to defend Christianity, of course he should be canonized!
"What? Leopold was killed by a rifled gun? God..." Louis said in his heart: The rifled gun that killed Leopold was not the one I sold to the Ottoman Empire, right? The rifled gun I sold to the Tianfang believers killed St. Leopold... This seems to be a great sin!
Will you go to hell after death?
...
The atmosphere in the audience hall of Metz Castle was already extremely solemn. Louis XIV looked dejected, Prince Condé felt as if he had lost his heir, Hugo Leona's face was full of sadness, Marshal Dureny kept sighing, and Cole Bell looked remorseful... They were all sinners who sold guns to the Ottoman Empire!
Now Leopold has become a saint, standing next to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, looking at these sinners...
An older, bald, and thin priest was tearfully recounting the scene when the great Leopold I ascended to heaven.
"...Although he was shot six times and was bleeding profusely, he still bravely charged towards the Tianfang cultists. Before all the blood was shed, he also killed seven fully armed Tianfang cultists. Repulsed an enemy offensive and covered the remaining troops led by Charles Lorraine to retreat across the Danube River!"
As he spoke, the priest shakily took out a cloth bag and handed it to Louis XIV, who was already crying. "Your Majesty, this is the bullet that hit His Majesty the Emperor. It is an extremely vicious bullet. It produces And those who sell it will definitely go to hell!”
It can't be that serious, right?
Louis XIV said in his heart: Guns and bullets don’t kill people, it’s people who kill people!
But when he opened the cloth bag and saw the deformed corked rifle bullet inside, he was stunned. What kind of bullet was this? It doesn’t seem to be made in France!
