I Am Louis XIV

The king's intentions were obvious, and Mr. Cole would not be so stupid as to speak of Louis XIV's behavior. He sat upright in his seat, as if he hadn't thought of it at all, but turned his head away and continued to listen. Description of the Duke of Luxembourg.

The Duke of Luxembourg not only met Duke Don Juan in Toledo, but was also received by King Carlos II of Spain in the next few days. That is to say, the person who wanted to meet the Duke of Luxembourg was actually the Queen Mother of Spain. The princess of Austria, she is only twenty-nine years old this year, but she looks older than a forty-year-old woman. In addition to the torture she suffered in the short few months after her husband passed away, there is also Her ill-fated fate.

If someone is willing to read the history books, he will see countless unfortunate women in the history of Europa. Almost from birth, they are destined to become a piece of property, a certificate or a collateral, depending on their personal preferences , Thoughts and beliefs are involuntary, and it depends entirely on how her father and husband arrange. Although the church has always been very strict about marriage, in fact, in order to achieve an alliance between countries, princesses don’t talk about love. His marriage has often become a disgusting joke.

For example, Henry VIII, who has been away from people for less than a hundred years, people often talk about the fact that he married six queens, one was imprisoned to death, two were beheaded, two had puerperal fever, and only the last One died well, and the person who was imprisoned to death was Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. This Spanish princess was once the wife of Henry's brother Arthur. They were married less than a month later. At that time, they both contracted the wind and cold, Arthur died, and Catherine survived by chance, but if she knew what happened next, she must hope that she would not come back to life—the eldest son and heir of King Henry VII of England died, but he still wanted to maintain The alliance with Spain, after which Henry married his brother's wife-but after marriage, Catherine gave birth to five children, four died young, and only one daughter survived, which is known as Bloody Mary, which made Henry VIII Angry, especially when he saw that he was getting older, but still didn't have a son. In Britain, where the Salic Law was implemented, this meant that the Tudor dynasty was about to die out after just two kings.

When he yelled at Catherine: "A brother who marries a brother-in-law will have no offspring! (It is said in the Bible)", Catherine must have been ashamed, and this marriage contract may not be her willingness, but in terms of her own destiny, she What right to speak? It was the same when she was married to Arthur, it was the same when she almost became the wife of Henry VII, and it is the same now. Although the Pope did not agree with Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine, she was expelled from the court and became unknown in a monastery. And her only daughter, because Henry VIII denied the marriage, became an illegitimate daughter, and even went to serve her half-sister.

A hundred years later, Maria of Habsburg also encountered this problem. Yes, her original husband was Philip IV's crown prince Baltasar, that is, Philip IV and Princess Elizabeth of Bourbon. The eldest son, unfortunately, just after the marriage was settled, the crown prince contracted smallpox and followed in the footsteps of his deceased mother. After three years of hesitation and negotiation, Philip IV, who had no heir, became Maria Philip IV was forty-four years old when they married, and the age difference sent her straight to hell or to the grave.

The Queen Mother seen by the Duke of Luxembourg is like this. Compared with another Habsburg princess, that is, the Queen Mother Anne of France, she is more gloomy and thin, and even inferior to Teresa who is like a transparent person in the court. The queen—the queen can still get the love of her husband. For this little wife, Philip IV, in addition to maintaining the alliance with Spain for him, hoped that she could give birth to a child as soon as possible. They married in 49 , Philip IV died in 65 years, and the last child, Carlos I, was born in 61 years. In this short period of ten years, Maria gave birth to five children in total, with almost no breathing time, frequent The production of her had devastated her health and robbed her last vestige of illusion.

Sitting next to Carlos, holding his hand tightly, Maria, who seemed to be holding the authority of Spain, was wearing a black mourning dress, with a portrait pendant of Philip IV hanging on her chest, and the neckline and cuffs were dark The velvet is covered with snow-white veil. She has the same idea as Duke Don Juan, and she also came to seek support and help from France... She showed much more sincerity than Duke Don Juan. To put it simply, she gave It is the marriage contract of Carlos II.

"But I don't have a daughter yet." Louis said that Queen Teresa has not been pregnant again in the past three years, nor has Mrs. La Vallière, and it is impossible for the illegitimate daughter to be made public.

"The Duke of Orleans has it, Your Highness," said the Duke of Luxembourg.

Not long after the Duke of Orleans married Princess Henrietta, he followed the king's orders and went to Lorraine, but before that, Princess Henrietta was pregnant. In 62 years, she added a little princess to the French royal family, because The Duke of Orleans went to Lorraine, and Queen Mother Anne was worried that Princess Henrietta lived alone in Orleans, or the Castle of Saint-Cloud, which was bought by Philip in 1958 as a marriage between him and Henrietta. The princess' new home.

The castle of Saint-Cloud is located on the upper Seine, only one or two leagues away from the Louvre. Even so, the Queen Mother and the King still insisted that Princess Henrietta and her daughter live in the Louvre. Everyone knows that the King and the King The queen mother loved the house and extended her love to her younger brother Philip to his daughter. Louis bowed his head and fell silent in the room. Of course, the Europeans, who were still ignorant of the dangers of consanguineous marriage, would not understand the king's concerns, and felt sorry for them. This is indeed a good thing—Spain used to be an extremely powerful empire. Before that, the candidates for two consecutive queens of France still came from Spain, but now, the king of Spain even has to submit to the daughter of a duke. For example, the king of England must also salute the king of France, and the ambassador of France has the right to walk in front of the ambassadors of other countries, etc. Many vanity titles can't help but secretly rejoice.

And Louis was thinking about something else entirely. For France, whether it was Spain, or England, or the Holy Roman Empire... or the Netherlands, as they say, the best enemy is a dead enemy, and he It can be said that the best enemy country is a chaotic and weak enemy country, but in terms of Spain, he has more things to consider. After all, Spain is closely connected to the Holy Roman Empire, and Cole guessed right. In the most embarrassing situation, the dowry that disappeared inexplicably was not pursued. It was still out of consideration for the right of inheritance—even if it was the marriage of a king, Europa at this time was like some kind of transaction. One party violated the contract, and the other One party can confidently pursue its own power.

Now it seems that although Maria of Austria has spent a painful marriage life, her political sensitivity is obviously more than that of the Queen Mother of France. The conditions she proposed are that the French cannot refuse. Duke Juan's verbal check was more credible and attractive.

The only thing to worry about is the physical condition of Carlos II. The French are willing to see a stupid waste sitting on the Spanish throne, but once he marries the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, he will automatically become a French Once the witness of the covenant dies, the tug-of-war between the two countries will not only start again, but also the little princess of the Duke of Orleans will become a hostage. If the king or the minister is unwilling to pay enough price, waiting for the little princess Probably just a desolate monastery.

"Even if the marriage is proposed, it will have to wait until five or six years later." Louis finally said: "Tell Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Spain, I am very willing to achieve this marriage, but not now, even if it is just an engagement-I think she will be willing." of."

The ministers looked at each other clearly, yes, don’t think that only the French want to procrastinate, the situation between countries is always changing rapidly, no one knows what France or Spain will look like in a year, and now Spain’s The Queen Mother was only upset by Duke Don Juan's aggressiveness and had to make concessions. Whether this engagement will be brought up again in two or three years will depend on the situation of the two countries, and... that Carlos II His Majesty's physical condition—Although Louis could sacrifice for the country, so did his younger brother Philip, but Louis felt that he might not be able to marry the niece he had grown up to marry a dying person.

After this discussion, the king's afternoon work time came to an end. The king got up first and walked towards the gate, followed by the ministers. It is related to the important affairs of the previous day. They will talk about tomorrow's work for a while, and then depending on the situation of the day, the king will invite them to dinner. This is a kind of encouragement and praise, but such opportunities are rare, in Orleans This honor must have belonged to the duke when he returned to Paris from Lorraine.

Today the king left no one behind. He went straight to the west wing where the queen mother lived. Princess Henrietta and her daughter were also there. In order to avoid some unbearable rumors, the king seldom went to see Princess Henrietta in person. People who were interested in themselves, or the king of France, but today they discussed the matter of the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, the king will go to talk to the duchess in person—every wall in the palace has ears, and every wall has ears. Sculptures can talk, but if he doesn't, the next day's gossip will drive the mother crazy.

Crown Prince Louis was the first to run out to meet the king. Just as Milady said, little Louis inherited the black hair of the Habsburgs, but judging from his facial contours and eyebrows, he was very similar to Louis. What worried Louis was that the big Habsburg chin did not show on this child. His chin was round and small, very cute-before he was three years old, he always wore a similar little skirt, but never Once he became gender-conscious, Louie gave him a "suspender ceremony", so now he's dressed like a cavalier.

Sitting obediently on the kneeling stool at the Queen Mother's feet, Prince Louis became the daughter of the Duke of Orleans. Their little princess and a group of noble ladies all surrounded her. When they saw the king coming in, they immediately bowed their heads and saluted. , The room was immediately covered with waves of satin and velvet. Compared with a few years ago, the colors that the king could see were more colorful and diverse-now almost all the wizards provided by the Mancini family were working for the king, and among them Most of them are refining and configuring the dyes needed by the king. Before large-scale production is impossible, the price of dyes is still quite expensive compared to later generations. Some colors such as royal blue or snail purple still need to be made with gold. The price is calculated, but those who can gather around the Queen Mother will not be shy in their pockets.

The king even saw pink velvet, this pink is bright and delicate, and it depends on the luck of the wizard - some wizards who are too dark, even if they have profound research on potions and are skilled in techniques, it is difficult to adjust them a hundred times. It was done once, and even if it succeeded this time, it would be hard to say the next time—he found out that it was Princess Henrietta, because the Duke of Orleans was in Lorraine, and in order to ensure that the secret of the dye did not go wrong, the king handed over the matter to him. Entrusted to my younger brother, some people may ask, Lorraine and Alsace are not peaceful, what if someone intentionally destroys or exposes them... But this is why the king put them in Lorraine, except for the mountains of Lorraine And outside the forest, people in Lorraine and Alsace are very clear that they are different from people in Paris, Orleans, or Lyon to the king of France. Brittany or Provence are similar, so semi-military control in Lorraine and Alsace is more acceptable to the local people than in other places.

They were Spaniards before, and after the French came, riots and escapes continued to happen. In this case, it is understandable that they were treated more severely.

Under the signal of the Queen Mother, the noble ladies retreated one after another. When the Duchess of Orleans was about to take her daughter away, she was stopped by the king's sight. "Take your little sister to play." Louis said to the crown prince. .

After the two children went out, Louis told the Duchess of Orléans the news from the Duke of Luxembourg. The Duchess looked very ugly, and she held the armrest of the chair, as if to draw courage from it—many people expected this But she is also very clear that Carlos II's side is either Don Juan of Spain or Maria Anna of Austria, and these two countries are enemies of France, and the little princess will face it in the future. It may be more complicated and worse than the situation encountered by Queen Mother Anne and Queen Teresa.

"Don't worry too much," said the King gently. "I assure you, my dear brothers and sisters, that if you don't want to, I won't give my nod to this marriage."

The Duchess of Orleans just smiled with difficulty. It's not that she doesn't believe in Louis, but I'm afraid she won't be able to say what she doesn't want to say when the time comes.