I Am Louis XIV - Chapter 545

   Chapter 545 White and Red (Part 2)

  Rolfe was still hesitating, but at this moment, the king said something, which made him jump up from his chair.

Louis laughed unabashedly as if he had succeeded in a prank, while Rolfe’s expression was as complicated as a cake platter after dinner—because Louis XIV spoke neither English nor French, but Jamestown. Mayan language spoken by the Indians.

America has a vast area, and the Indians are a decentralized society based on tribes, so from south to north, from east to west, they have divided dozens of language families and hundreds of dialects, and the Indians of a tribe have encountered The Indians of another tribe sometimes need to use shouts and gestures to communicate like wild animals – their lives are quite simple, without private ownership, there is no commercial soil, and no one will go from this tribe to that tribe, And of course nothing like a lingua franca would be derived.

   When the white people came among them, and after the concepts of private property and trade were concentrated in their simple minds, English and French became the first lingua franca.

  It was the English that “Horn” and Rolfe used to talk to.

Rolfe was even more gifted in language. He used English as his mother tongue, Mayan. When the king’s messenger invited him to Paris, he learned French from his entourage and crew on board. It’s vulgar, but it’s not a problem if it’s just a simple communication.

But he, or the “horns” learning French is nothing, a French king, with soldiers and horses they can’t imagine, a warchief with muskets, but can speak in their language, this meaning is extraordinary. .

“It’s just a small gesture,” said Louis. What he just said was a Mayan proverb, which roughly means – don’t hesitate when you draw your bow, the birds will fly away – to remind people that they should always be vigilant , Seize the opportunity, don’t miss the opportunity because of hesitation: “I want to be fair to you, I am not Charles II, and my people are not British.”

   “What’s the difference between you?” said Rolfe. “Your merchants are also selling Indians at Jamestown.”

   “But as long as I make my will, no one dares to disobey it.”

Rolfe didn’t close his frown. “Respectable Warchief, I don’t want to question your authority, but why? Why are you being so kind to us…?” One hundred years, but in this one hundred years, they have let the Indians have been deceived and suffered enough. All the words that mean evil and cruelty in the Indian language are not enough for them. To create more, he couldn’t trust a white man easily.

“Because I want my family, you can also imagine it as a tribe, to rule this continent.” Louis said softly: “You are not a ‘horn’ or something so stubborn that you don’t want to open your eyes and see. Real Indians, so I can tell you that I will let my marshals lead the army to your land and destroy all those and things that do not want to accept us; then my officers, they will build mines , houses and streets, as well as reservoirs, warehouses and schools, and perhaps a few churches.

But unlike the British, unlike those Anglo-Saxons, as you should have noticed, Mr. Rolfe, the British don’t know how to cooperate, they don’t know how to back down, they always just want to be above everyone else, enslavement and Oppressing others, exploiting the fruits of their labor, enjoying themselves, but not willing to give those who suffer a chance to breathe. “

For example, the “sheep cannibalism” invented by the British, Louis did not understand the idea of ​​the British King, Parliament and those nobles, even if they found that wool was more valuable than wheat, and wanted to switch from farming to breeding and textile industry, why would they want to What about landless peasants driven to the point of exile? They have made a fortune in wool, and a little scraps of food are enough to quell the anger of the people.

How good they are, the peasants had to abandon their homes and businesses because they lost their land, and their kings and courts even made laws saying that those homeless people lost their only property because of laziness, not only can they not give Relief, they were captured and sent to quarries and labor boats—those who could still work were obliged to accept the disproportionately low wages of workshop owners and farmers in order to avoid such a terrible punishment.

How low is   ?

Both men and women, young people refuse to get married and have children. Because women are subjected to more discrimination and harsh treatment (the lowest wage and the heaviest work), they have to run late at night in order to have a place to live and a bite of bread. Travelling girls whose patrons were men who were supposed to be their husbands—Louis couldn’t believe it when he saw this report—one of the most frustrating issues when he was in power was the population of France.

  The sharp decline in population has actually affected the conscription work, which is why Charles II has been unable to launch a large-scale attack on France, even if he is half the size of Holland. But before that, His Majesty the King should have paid no attention to it, firstly because the provinces would import people to London, and secondly because for the factory owners and farmers, they didn’t need too many manpower.

Everyone knows that before it is fully mechanized, to take care of ten acres of land may require several laborers from a family to be dispatched together. This is still in the case of cattle, let alone people who do not have cattle, but shepherd sheep. The group, even if it is to put a few hundred, how many people are needed? One, two or three? Add at most a few dogs. In the grass, just sprinkle some grass seeds at will.

Once you abandon agriculture and turn to animal husbandry, the labor force will overflow, but Louis also said, since this is the case, as kings, members of parliament, ministers, shouldn’t you be prepared first, make plans, use administration and violence Are there any means for factory owners and merchants to eat this population? Even with a slight increase in wages, a textile worker can support his family, and in the next 20 or 30 years, the population will slowly drop to a reasonable number as the economic system changes.

   But the grown-ups in England don’t, don’t, and Louis even wonders if they relied on trampling on the masses to get that joyous feeling of being able to manipulate the fate of others at will. .

Louis shook his head gently: “So, everything I said before will be shared by the French and the Indians, you can work in our mines, you can live in our towns, you can use our coal and clean water, your children can be educated in our schools, your patients can be treated in our hospitals, you can walk into our stores to buy things, and you can ask our officials for help with Support, fight alongside our soldiers and generals, and you can even have our bank hold your precious assets for you.”

   “But the land was originally ours,” said Rolfe. “Isn’t it strange enough that you took them and gave us part of it?”

“I heard that the Indians often listen to the sound of the wind, pay attention to the color and whereabouts of the smoke, and accept the blessings and punishments from nature. You will not interfere with the arrangement of fate and prevent the cruel competition for survival – then, please now Tell me, when you see a pack of grey wolves hunting buffalo, the weak, old, young, or disabled buffalo tumbling down, screaming horribly, blood spewing from the wound, you feel Are they immoral?”

  Louis raised a hand to stop Rolfe from continuing.

“Now the Indians are the herd of bison, and we, whether British or French, are the ones who hunt you, unfortunately, maybe given enough time for you, you can get out of the closed fence and achieve your own civilization, But—it’s so fate, sir, you don’t have advanced weapons, you don’t have enough soldiers, you don’t have enough supplies, you are torn apart, each with your own mind, and even at such a critical moment, you are not united and become an external only one. strength.”

   “You don’t have time,” Louis reiterated in a low voice, “So, you can only choose a less greedy hunter.”

He told Rolfe about those “sheep eating people”, “This is what the British did to their countrymen, how can you still have illusions about them? You should also be aware of it, with the Spanish People, unlike the French, never thought of coexisting with you, they—of course, the easiest way to do that is to completely wipe you off the map, your culture, your language, your descendants, all Will disappear into the river of history, no one will remember your glory, and no one will remember their sins.”

“But we are different,” Louis continued, “Rolfe, the French may not be good people, but we have a little more bottom line, morality, and some romantic ideas than the English, all you need is The more you get in touch with people in Paris, the more you know.”

This point Louis is not lying, the French people’s impression of the Indians – except for the few people who are keen on the slave trade, are still stagnant in newspapers and periodicals, and I don’t know if the British did it on purpose or what, they The Indians described are almost indistinguishable from the beasts – they never speak, the Indians have their own language, their own writing, their own totems (heraldry), their own traditions, their own laws, and love, family and friendship- They did their best to smear or downplay the Indians, so that the French, who were initially less concerned about the colonies, were deeply affected.

But from today, because of Louis XIV’s favor and closeness, the French will surely swarm, eager to get in touch with them, Rolf can speak English and French, “Horn” and other Indians can speak French, There will be no obstacles to the communication between them, and once there is communication between people, it is difficult to do cruel acts without burden as before.

   It’s like when the two countries are at war, they will definitely mock and slander each other wildly, and sketch the other side’s army as a group of deadly devils. Otherwise, everyone has sympathy and empathy. If they realize that there is also a living person like themselves in the trenches and queues on the opposite side, it will be difficult for the soldiers to pull the trigger.

Also, as I said before, French immigrants are more calm than British immigrants. They are looking for an extra property, not without a way out. Now, the king’s Flanders and North Holland It’s not completely filled yet.

   “What do you want us to do?” said Rolfe.

“It will be difficult for you,” said Louie, “I have said that my laws will shine on your land like the sun, and every inch I will respect your traditions and culture, and I will negotiate, trade, or negotiate with you. It’s a discussion, to see how things should develop and be arranged, but…” He paused: “I know there are some Indians,” he gave Rolfe a meaningful glance, “just want to get all the whites out.”

   “Unfortunately, you may never be able to do this.” He reached out to Rolfe: “But you can at least choose a friend who is willing to stand side by side with you.”

  Rolfe’s chest twitched for a while, the white chieftain was right – and he didn’t need to lie to him, could he still see the British?

   Compared with the British, the French seem to be a better choice, but can he make this choice? He knew that if he decided to ally with the other side, his enemies would not only be the British, but also the stubborn, inflexible tribes—and possibly his former allies among them.

   He held out his hand.

  ———

  Just as Louis XIV thought, Rolfe and the “Horns” and other Indians really set off waves of pleasant and relaxed waves in Paris.

Today’s French people have wise kings, brave generals, capable ministers, victorious armies and steel behemoth-like ships, full of money and life, and they can’t help but give birth to a kind of in the big country. The arrogant gestures that can often be seen among the subjects, to put it simply, do not see arrogance, rudeness and senseless throwing of fees in them, but instead is a calm, tolerant and gentle temperament.

   There is nothing they cannot accept.

  Because there are many trades to choose from, there is not much regret when the merchants abandon the slave trade that the king hated. When the people in Paris were surprised to find that Rolfe and other Indians were not animals, but human beings with the same thinking as them, they could not help but have a certain understanding of the mind—although this kind of mind was similar to chasing a new scene. The drama makes no difference, but that’s enough.

  Florence was once the center of the Renaissance, and Paris was also the center of the “Second Renaissance”. What was the central idea of ​​the Renaissance?

   Human-centered humanism.

   In this way, in the future, on the new continent that he cannot personally visit, the white river can truly join the red river.

   (end of this chapter)