Chapter 90 Only a stranger has a merciful heart

Pont Neuf, Paris!

A group of men in black cloaks went up the bustling new bridge.

The cloak was so large that it almost covered the whole body, and even the face was hidden in the darkness.

Since this group of twelve people stepped onto the new bridge, the pedestrians, carriages, and merchants who were shouting on the new bridge, the noisy flower sellers, and even the drama that was being sung have stopped, and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the group of men in black in unison.

Ignoring this, the man in black continued to walk towards the other side of the new bridge, his leather boots clattering on the stones.

"Gold!"

A beggar with rotten teeth suddenly cried out.

Attract everyone's attention.

The last man in black glanced at the beggar indifferently, took a handful of Livre from his bosom and threw it at the beggar, and immediately the beggar was overwhelmed by the surging crowd.

The Livre is the currency of France, similar to the silver dollar of the Ming Dynasty, both of which are silver coins, but in terms of appearance, the quality of the silver coins minted is far less exquisite than the silver coins stamped by the Ming Dynasty.

"Zhang Liang, don't mess around!"

Qiao Yong, who was walking in the forefront, let out a low shout, and Zhang Liang quickly followed the team, pretending not to see the white chest that the flower girl deliberately exposed.

Seeing this group of black-clothed people walk away, the policeman Zhu Yude, who was wearing a half-cloak, quickly followed, he was also very curious about the origin of this group of people, and he had never heard what the black-clothed man in charge of just now reprimanded the last black-clothed man.

However, he didn't dare to lean up and ask easily, because there was a golden medal hanging on the chest of those black cloaks that he had never seen before, and the pattern of the medal was something he had never seen before, it was a magical monster.

Zhu Yude had never heard of any family that would use such a monster as their family emblem.

However, inside the black cloak of these people, not only did they hide muskets, but also long knives hung from them, and Zhu Yude could even smell the smell of wild beasts from these people's bodies.

"These people are soldiers, they are battle-hardened soldiers, what is the purpose of their coming to Paris?"

Zhu Yude said to himself, and followed these people to the Champs-Élysées pastoral avenue, that is, the Queen's Road.

Dumping garbage is not allowed on this road, so after stepping on this street, Qiao Yong and the others couldn't help but stomp their boots fiercely, until now, there is still a strong smell of feces and urine lingering on the end of their noses.

Thinking of the dark and narrow street they had just crossed, Qiao Yong, who could eat in the face of the smell of rotting corpses, couldn't help but retch twice.

They had come in three carriages, but when they entered the city, they were overwhelmed by the surging crowd of beggars.

Young Qiao Yong had never seen such a large number of beggars, and he once thought that this country called France was a country of beggars.

The beggars jammed the carriage with no difficulty, so Qiao Yong, who was in a hurry to see the king of France, ordered to go on foot, and the carriage followed.

It has been four years since Qiao Yong came to Paris.

Now, he desperately wants to complete the task and return to Daming.

As soon as they set foot on Queen's Road, there were immediately fewer beggars, but none of them looked like good people, and they hid on street corners and looked at them with greedy eyes.

Qiao Yong still knows the details of these people, these people are the kings of various beggar groups, and only these kings can come to the queen street to beg.

It's not so much that they're begging, it's that this group of people are villains, they kill, rob, kidnap, kidnap, steal, and do almost anything.

In the past, when there were only three people in his group, Qiao Yong would still treat them as the same thing, but when his brothers arrived on a large scale, he was full of contempt for the city and the emperor here.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to build an embassy here, originally thinking that with the permission of the French King Louis XIV, he could buy land and build houses, and he could implement the official document requiring French merchants to go to the Ming Dynasty, and he could also obtain the guarantee of the French king.

The problem is that Qiao Yong and the others have already met Louis XIV at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, and have met the Queen Mother who is regent, and Louis XIV also agreed to the Ming Empire to build a splendid embassy in Paris and agreed to all the requirements of the Ming Empire.

Pity...... He didn't count.

At this time, it was not the French king Louis XIV who controlled Paris, but the Slingers, Prince Condé, Madame de Chevreux, Madame Longuville and others, and it was the Prince Condé who they wanted to meet.

The reason why I still want to see the Prince of Condé is that at this time it is the prince who used the stone to drive the emperor away in France.

Thinking about the fact that the Parisians drove away the emperor a few years ago, Qiao Yong couldn't figure it out until now, the dignified emperor was actually frightened by the trebuchet of a group of ordinary people and left the capital in a hurry to wander in other places.

This made Qiao Yong's overall perception of France even worse.

I think that back then, my Majesty killed countless thieves and killed all the people in the world who dared to call soldiers before becoming the emperor, and just this one, France is not worthy of His Majesty personally writing the letter of appointment of the ambassador, nor is it worthy of enjoying the gifts sent by His Majesty.

It was agreed with the carriage to meet on Queen's Road, so Qiao Yong took the people to stop at Notre Dame Cathedral.

There is a huge square here, and the square is even more crowded, but all the people don't seem to have a good impression of Qiao Yong and the other twelve people, or they hide away because of fear.

A group of people gathered around a gallows to watch the excitement, Qiao Yong was not interested in it, but the other brothers were very surprised to see an individual being sent to the gallows and then hanged alive.

A poor woman howled and was put around her neck, and then a strong man pushed the bracket, and the poor woman was immediately hanged without even struggling.

"The neck bone was broken in the first place."

Qiao Yong saw that Zhang Liang didn't seem to be very patient, so he explained to him: "This woman is guilty of abortion, listening to what the judge just said, this woman committed a capital crime because she helped other women have miscarriages." ”

Zhang Liang frowned and said, "Sin doesn't lead to death, right?" If this could also be hanged, the old bustards of the Ming Dynasty would have been hanged 10,000 times. ”

Qiao Yong took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it and said, "Don't compare this place with Da Ming, look at that child, if he steals three times, he will be hanged." ”

Zhang Liang looked back and saw a little boy about ten years old who was not tall enough to be held by the executioner on a wooden pier and put a rope around his neck.

The young man did not seem to be afraid of death, but looked around, with a relaxed expression on his face, and even pleaded politely with the executioner: "Can I hear the bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral again?" So that I can go to heaven and see my father. ”

The executioner looked up at the sun, and he smiled and agreed, while the crowd around him let out a burst of boos, and one of the fat cooks shouted: "Hang him, hang this thief, he stole six loaves of bread from me, he is not worthy of heaven, he is not worthy of hearing the diffuse bell." ”

"Whoever steals food will be hanged?" Zhang Liang's eyes widened and asked Qiao Yong.

"If you steal more than three times, you will be hanged, no matter what he steals."

"I remember stealing food in Daming is not stealing."

Qiao Yong glanced at Zhang Liang and said: "The Ming people have the right to eat to their heart's content, and stealing food when they are hungry is called self-avoidance, and it is a crime here." ”

Finally, the Mass bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral rang, and the little boy looked up at the high bell tower, his eyes full of hope, as if the bells could really send his soul to heaven.

The bell stopped, and the little boy said to the executioner: "Thank you, sir, God will bless your good heart, and now you can hang me." ”

But the executioner untied the rope from his neck, threw him under the table by his arm, and said: "Lucky little one, you are not guilty, God has saved you." ”

The little boy who fell to the ground looked around blankly, and saw that the fat baker was shouting to the judge: "My lord, he really didn't steal my bread, yes, he didn't steal it, I remembered it wrong." ”

Mr. Judge said expressionlessly: "False accusation, two livres will be fined." ”

The fat cook hurriedly took out his money bag and counted out two livres and handed them to the policeman, and then said loudly to the young man: "You must remember my goodness." ”

With that, he hurried into the crowd and ran, as if he was worried that someone would chase him.

The little boy looked around, and finally came to Qiao Yong's side tremblingly and bent down and said, "Thank you, sir, you must have saved me." “

Qiao Yong was stunned for a moment, then looked at the little boy's blue eyes and said, "How can you be sure that I saved you?" ”

The little boy smiled shyly and said, "My mother said that the heart of a Parisian is like a stone, and only a foreigner from outside has compassion. “

Qiao Yong pointed at Zhang Liang and said: "You are right, Parisians are like iron stones, I have stayed here for too long, and my heart has become like iron stones, this person who has just arrived in Paris is indeed much kinder than me, and the money to redeem you is from him." ”

"Thank you, kind sir!"

The little boy bowed to Zhang Liang again.

Zhang Liang waved his hand generously and said: "In my country, everyone has the right to eat enough, because stealing food when hungry will never be a crime, but should." ”

The little boy's blue eyes glared at the boss, and he said to Zhang Liang earnestly: "Mr. Benevolence, can you tell me where your country is?" I want to take my sister and mother to you, we always don't have enough to eat. ”

Zhang Liang shook his head and said, "My country is too far away from Paris, you can't go." ”

The little boy hurriedly grabbed Zhang Liang's cloak and said, "I'm not afraid of far, sir, really, I'm not afraid of far, Emily can't walk and I can carry her on my back." ”

Zhang Liang took out five livres from his arms and handed them to the little boy and said, "Take it, with the money, you will be able to eat, my country is too far away, it takes a year to travel by boat to arrive, you can't go." ”

The little boy did not take the money, but lowered his head in disappointment.

Zhang Liang rubbed the little boy's soft golden hair and said, "With this money, you, your mother, and Emily will be able to eat enough." ”

The little boy still didn't take the money.

Qiao Yong slapped Zhang Liang on the back and said: "If you give him money, you are not helping him, but killing him, believe it or not, as long as this kid leaves our sight, he will die immediately!" ”