I Am Louis XIV

"Great," said Henrietta. She looked at her brother and suddenly smiled. "Do you know? I am the Duchess of Orleans of Bourbon and Princess Henrietta of Stuart."

"I know, but sister, what do you want to tell me?"

"Let me persuade you to try to promote the alliance between France and England, even to make such a promise-to the Duke of York, it is His Majesty's meaning, and I think you have guessed it."

"Yes, he is a devil, offering me a temptation that I cannot refuse."

"But Louis also once said that a king who is not hated by his enemies will not be a good king."

"What a sharp statement." Charles II said in a sharp voice: "Henry VIII also once said that the number of your enemies often means how powerful you are."

"So he will definitely take advantage of this matter. My brother, if the Duke of York is canonized, then, no matter whether you have an heir or not, this matter will become the beginning of chaos."

"It's like quenching thirst with poison, but sister, it was you who held my hand and signed my name."

"It's your greed, my brother, but this matter is not without room for maneuver."

"If you mean me to execute the Duke of York, I won't do that." Charles II said, "I have no heir. He is the first heir to the throne of Scotland, Ireland and England. will not let Stuart's orthodoxy die in my hands."

"But when the matter subsides, you will fulfill the previous agreement." Henrietta said, "Brother, I was the Duchess of Orleans before, but from now on, I will be Henrietta."

"Dawn is coming, and we don't have much time. Sister, if you have anything to say, just talk about it."

"Then I will say, brother, you and the queen have no children, you must have prayed to God and the saints, now please tell me, have you ever prayed to the devil?"

"Oh!" Charles II immediately jumped up from his chair. He recalled Henrietta's words in his mind, and his expression became more and more frightened: "What nonsense are you talking about, Henrietta! You pushed me to It doesn't count if I get off the gambling table, but you still have to push me to hell?"

"This sentence is strange," Henrietta said calmly, "Aren't wizards and witches hovering around you? If they weren't there, it would be difficult for you to guarantee that our secrets would not be exposed by those Let keen ears and eyes hear and see."

"Yes, but it's different." Charles II tensed his forehead, and his head even buzzed a little: "Henrietta, children born under witchcraft do not belong to their parents, nor do they belong to them." God, he only belongs to wizards, I can't let such a child inherit my throne." He suddenly raised his head and stared at Henrietta, "You're not going to tell me that's how Louis's child came from!" Speaking of which, It was much easier for Louis XIV to have a child than his father Louis XIII. Almost immediately after the wedding ceremony, the queen had a child.

"Unfortunately, no." Henrietta said: "But all you need is time, a war will not end prematurely, and if your child is born within a year, the Duke of York is still at sea , someone will definitely reject your will..."

"Ah, yes, this is not the first time." Charles II's gloomy face was covered with a layer of dangerous gray: "But my ministers, those Protestants, they have already had a secret relationship with the Duke of York. Bottom line. They'll just gleefully make it happen."

"But after all, you are a Protestant, not a Catholic."

This sentence made Charles II laugh: "So is the Duke of York."

"You can let him not, his wife, unfortunately the Earl of Clarendon's daughter seems to be dead."

"Yes, God bless her."

"Their relationship between husband and wife does not seem to be very harmonious." Princess Henrietta said. Although the average life expectancy of people at this time is short, it is only for those in the middle and lower classes. The Duchess of York is only in her twenties. He was married for less than ten years, neither because of dystocia, nor because of the plague. The Duke of York is a mercenary. And because he publicly accused Charles II of his lack of morality, he also aroused the disgust of the king and the parliament. The same is true for my own wife, who neither respected nor cared for her, so that the lady died of depression at a young age: "I have a good marriage here to tell him."

"Then tell me about it first." Charles II asked with interest.

"How about the daughter of Duke Monard?"

"Monard of Italy?" Charles II couldn't help bouncing his tongue for this candidate: "The descendant of the illegitimate son of Alexander VI?" Speaking of Cesare, he is really famous. He relished talking about the scandal of his having sex with his biological sister, and even brought their father, Pope Alexander VI at the time, and he was the great-grandfather of the current Duke Monard, although the reputation of his ancestor was not good. Good, but the Duke of Monard is indeed one of the most famous and powerful princes in Italy. His daughter married the Duke of York. For the Duke of York, it was rain from heaven. Anyway, his first wife It was nothing more than the daughter of an earl, and it was well known that Duke Monard was rich, so the dowry he gave to his daughter would not be too simple.

Don't forget that the British royal family's expenses are in the hands of the Parliament, and Charles II is stretched. Could it be that the Duke of York can go somewhere extravagant? Such a glittering bride, even Charles II couldn't help but be moved.

"His daughter Maria is eleven years old and will start talking about marriage next year."

"Will Duke Monard be willing?"

"If the title of Duke of York is not enough, then add the title of Prince of Wales. Doesn't he want to have a daughter who is the Queen of England?"

"I almost thought you were a lobbyist for the Duke of York." Charles II sighed and said, if this marriage is successful, then the status of the Duke of York will be even more unshakable.

"But it's definitely not what your ministers and councilors want to see." Princess Henrietta said, "You may not know that the Roman Church is also in contact with Louis XIV."

"Ah, yes, I heard that Alexander VII is dying." Charles II said without respect.

"Not only do they want peace talks with the King of France, they also want to talk to you."

Charles II's eyes widened. Of course, in England, the dispute between Protestantism and Catholicism has lasted for hundreds of years. It has experienced several kings. Wars, massacres, and exiles caused by beliefs are not inferior to those between countries. Fighting, but the Roman Church is willing to lower its profile and speak to their poison-hating Protestant king first, which is really a rare thing.

"What's so strange about that, isn't that what Miss Christina is like?"

"So she is no longer the king of Sweden." Charles II said casually, and then he suddenly paused: "Duke Monard and his daughter are both Catholics, but will he also ask the Duke of York to convert? "

"It doesn't matter whether he wants to or not," Henrietta said lazily, "as long as your ministers and MPs believe that the Duke of York has accepted a bribe from the Roman Church and will follow his wife to become a Catholic. Then Brother Wang, as long as the queen reveals her belly, of course there will be some objections, at least to delay the canonization of the Duke of York, so that you will neither break your promise nor let the title of Prince of Wales be left behind."

"The Duke of York..."

"He was at sea then, and you had only to hold his ears and eyes, and he would believe what his messengers said, and," sighed Henrietta, "I'm not sure, for Mona The Duke's daughter and her dowry, will he really convert to Catholicism?"

"And this is what my ministers are most afraid of." Charles II said that once the Duke of York obeyed the king's will and led the army, it would be a kind of betrayal for these people. Open, then the people who support him will be angry and terrified, yes, there is the bloody Queen Mary in front (the daughter of Henry VIII, after inheriting the British throne, not only converted to Catholicism, but also returned to the country Restoration of the Catholic faith, set off a massacre of Protestants), in the short five years of her reign, there were countless Protestants who were forced into exile and forced to convert, and there were even more Protestants headed by Archbishop Cranmer More than 300 people, including Protestants, were burned to death on the stake, and the prisons in London were overcrowded-this tragedy will never be forgotten by any Protestant, and they will definitely not continue to support the Duke of York.

The Duke of York may have seen through this conspiracy, but at that time, he was on the battlefield, and the news was blocked, and Charles II promised that no one would explain it to him-when the dust settled when he returned to London, even if he got a Morgan The wife of the Duke of Nader's daughter—the problem is, those Protestants must believe that he has abandoned his original beliefs. Of course, he can also repent, but after losing the title of Prince of Wales, he can really abandon Mona De Duke's support? But as long as the Duke of Monard is still a Catholic, it will not help even if the future wife of the Duke of York converts, because she is still a "Catholic" daughter.

"Louis once told me," Charles II sighed after thinking about the matter several times in his heart: "Faith is like a heavy double-edged sword, and kings are like a heavy double-edged sword. People who dance, I finally tasted it now."

"Then the matter," said Princess Henrietta, "is for you to decide."

"How did Louis do it?" Charles II murmured, "He didn't have that kind of need to deal with a group of devil's heirs."

"Maybe it's because His Majesty has never thought that these wizards are the children of the devil." Henrietta recalled: "To Your Majesty, no matter whether they are wizards or witches, they are just like the ministers and people under his command, but they are not good at things. Same."

"I also hope that he has such fearless ideas." Charles II said that since King Arthur, there have been wizards in the king's court, but they are all in secret, but let the wizards hold such power, Louis X Four is the first person after King Arthur, isn't he afraid? It is an instinct that a mortal must have when facing an existence beyond the range of his own cognition, with both horror and loathing...

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"Because wizards also bleed, grow old, and die. When they are alive, they also worry about basic necessities." Louis XIV said.

"Before I go out again," he said to a graceful and charming lady, "I hope those Bohemian witches will settle down in Orleans quietly."

"It will definitely live up to your expectations." Another Mancini, the wife of Prince Conti bowed her knees and saluted the king. Members of the Mancini family are all rare beauties, and she is of course no exception. It's strange that Prince Conti married her only to meet Bishop Mazaran, but he never complained about it after that.

"What happened to those Huguenots?" The king asked another person, that is, Prince Conti, who had been frowning all the time. The task assigned by the king this time was really embarrassing for him.

"Still ready to move, delusional." He said.

"It's not surprising." Louis said that since the Vassi town incident in 1562, the conflict between Huguenots and Catholics has not stopped. After the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, The Huguenots even formed a federal republic in southern France. This rebellion lasted for twenty years until Henry IV ascended the throne and issued the tolerant "Edict of Nantes", but the Huguenots did not suffer from this. Satisfied, Henry III before Henry IV, Louis XIII and Louis XIV after that were successively assassinated and cursed, all of which had shadows of Huguenots swaying behind the scenes.

Therefore, Louis will not easily indulge these Protestants, even if he is fighting against the Netherlands-he has considered this matter for a long time before deciding to let the Minister of Military Affairs, the father of the Marquis of Loise and Prince Conti, take charge of the matter.

"How many Huguenots are there in France now?"

"About 350,000 people." Prince Conti replied, and then he couldn't help asking: "If you hate them, why don't you abolish the Edict of Nantes, or expel them?" as tame as the Alsatians.

"If only the Huguenots could be replaced as easily as the Lorraine or the Alsatians," Louis said.