I Am Louis XIV

In fact, there is nothing worth studying or using in these two letters. It must be said that it is a reminder to His Majesty Louis XIV that whether it is Mr. Lorraine or Prince Condé, once he becomes the king of Poland, he will cause French damage. Internal turmoil, but let Louis intervene immediately to prevent Prince Condé or Mr. Lorraine Jr. from being elected as the king of Poland. Regardless of whether he can succeed or not, Mr. Lorraine Jr. will be fine. The throne and resentment against Louis? It's entirely possible.

Now these two letters are placed in front of Louis XIV. Louis has only Bontang and his brother Philip by his side. These two people will never betray him. The king trusts them as he trusts his own hands. Philip is a little depressed because This is his fault. Although Louis comforted him by saying that John II was deposed in 1968, they were fighting in Flanders at the time, and it was normal for the Duke of Orleans to have no time to take care of Poland's internal affairs, and Michal, who was immediately elected to the throne, was born The Duke of Vishniewitzki's family, his father is a brave man who is good at fighting. He has never made any mistakes since he came to power. He is in his prime and cautious. Who would have thought that the Polish nobles would rise again? With the idea of ​​​​changing the king's candidate, from 69 to 72, it was only three short years.

Perhaps seeing this, many people will find it incomprehensible—but everyone should remember that the kings of France have proudly declared more than once that their royal servants came from their blood, rather than relying on tongue and bribery. Come on, for example, the emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, the greatest enemy of Louis XIV, was the emperor elected by the electors, not just because his father was the emperor.

And apart from the difference in the way of succession, the elector is not just a prince who elects the emperor. They are descended from various positions in the Holy Roman Empire, and this position cannot be taken away by the emperor—because the emperor It was originally only one of them, and these positions were even reflected in their family coat of arms like the king's crown and the Pope's key, like the Saxon candidate for the position of the Grand Marshal of the Empire, his coat of arms has a long The pattern of the sword; the imperial crown on the coat of arms of the king of Bohemia who is the taster, and the coat of arms of the Archbishop of Mainz who is in charge of the state seal is a seal... etc. These patterns not only reflect the Their majesty also shows their power-they are not the emperor's subjects, but the "brothers" who share the royal power with the emperor. Together with the emperor, they become the ruling class of the Holy Roman Empire. When they sit with the emperor Sometimes, people say, that's what it means to sit in the throne, not submit to it.

Therefore, in terms of jurisprudence and theology, the king of France who controls the entire country is equal to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire who controls only a part of the royal power.

But Poland's monarchy election system is different from that of the Holy Roman Empire. If the electoral system of the Holy Roman Empire lasted hundreds of years for the empire, then the electoral system of the Polish monarch is the chief culprit in the destruction of this once powerful country.

In the beginning, Poland, like other places in Europe, was composed of many tribal alliances. In the middle of the tenth century, the leader of the Piast family established an early feudal state, and the Piast dynasty unified Poland about a hundred years later. Since then, the people of Poland have been freed from continuous wars and spent three hundred years in peace. After three hundred years, King Boleslaw III of Poland made a fair and stupid decision to divide the country into one For four, handed over to four sons, it is conceivable that the flames of war reignited. More than 20 years later, Wladyslaw I unified Poland again, but the root of the disaster has been buried.

Unlike the cunning king of France who constantly took back power and territory from the princes through the war with England, Wladyslaw I's enemies were brothers of equal status to him, so he needed the help and support of the nobles, so in the twenties During the years of civil war, the king had to make concessions again and again, and the subsequent kings failed to regain it. In 1505, the king was not allowed to enact laws without the consent of the noble council.

The real chaos began in 1569. The last king of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Sigismund II, created the monarchy election system. Although his original intention was to maintain the Polish monarchy, he died in 72. Valu Although Henrik III of Va was elected King of Poland, he returned to France in 74 and became King Henry III of France because he was constrained by the nobles everywhere. After that, there was a three-year vacancy period. During these three years, the princes rushed to strengthen their own power and disregarded the country until Stefan I, who had a marriage contract with the female descendants of Agiellon, was elected as king. The internal turmoil in Poland has gradually subsided. As the monarch of Transylvania, Stefan I is a decisive and tough married man. If he is not in power for ten years, he will be in power for twenty or thirty years , Poland would not be what it is now.

It is a pity that the king died in 1586. The Vasa dynasty that we are familiar with John II was the one who took over the kingship. The first monarch of this dynasty came from Sweden, although his Swedish throne was deposed shortly afterwards. Of course, like his descendants, he was not a good and enterprising king-and although he is no longer the king of Sweden, his policies and actions are unrestrictedly biased in favor of Sweden, and the Polish noble council certainly will not. Sit back and watch this happen, and the war between Sweden and Poland is inevitable. Needless to say, with a king who has other countries in mind, a divided parliament and princes with different thoughts, Poland cannot stand against its enemies at all—— During the "Great Flood" period from 1648 to 1667, Poland was not only cut off a large piece of land by Sweden, but was also forced to give up its monarchy over the Principality of Prussia. The Cossack uprising made them lose control of Ukraine... In fact, the complaints of Prince Amon of Zmich to John II were a bit too extreme, because the decline of Poland did not start from the reign of John II. When a foreigner is deliberately chosen as king, chaos and decay in Poland are inevitable.

"In the war between Poland and Sweden, it is not that Poland has not won a victory. It is just that their internal strife and struggle finally made these victories that were exchanged for the blood and pain of the soldiers come to naught," Louis said. The Livonia region exchanged by King Karl XI of Sweden was captured by Sweden from Poland in that war. Even though Poland won a huge victory later in the war, they failed to be occupied in the negotiations fight for their territory back.

"But if, I mean if," Philip said after deliberation: "If Mr. Lorraine becomes the King of Poland..."

"This will directly affect the relationship between us and Sweden," Louis said. If Mr. Lorraine had not given up his pursuit of Lorraine and his hatred of Louis XIV, then he is likely to be in Leopold Under the instigation of King I to attack Sweden, not to mention that Sweden and Poland were enemies in the first place, the Swedish nobles will definitely pass this crime on to France. In this way, the alliance between France and Sweden will inevitably be shaken, and sometimes they do not have a common An enemy is a friend - unless France can support Sweden in fighting against Poland, but after two consecutive wars, the most important task of France is to swallow Flanders and half of the Netherlands, rather than participate in another one that does not benefit France much in war.

There is the Holy Roman Empire between Poland and France. For France, although the prey is fat, there is no way to eat it. Moreover, the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia and Russia are eyeing Poland. They have already eaten the Netherlands. Fortunately, how can France be allowed to insert its hands in Poland?

"But it can't be Condé," said Philippe, who looked very much like Louis when he was not smiling and looked grim. "Condé was once a traitor."

"I've forgiven him," said Louie. Then he saw Philip's expression of astonishment: "God," he cried, "you are not considering this possibility, no, no, no, how can it be Condé?"

"Why can't it be Kong Dai?" Louis asked back: "No matter what mistakes he has made before, don't forget, brother, he is in the same vein as us."

"That's why it's all the more abominable," said Philippe. "I don't think it would be better for him to end up in Chantilly, or Condé, or anywhere in the domain, and spend his last days peacefully." , or in other words, even if you throw him into the Bastille, no one will think you are too much-his current achievements are nothing more than repaying his previous crimes. As long as you don't execute him and deprive him of his territory, you will There is nothing to blame."

"But ever since I knew that the Polish nobles had this idea," Louis said, "I just wondered whether the Bourbon family could pass on their blood in another country..."

"This is really a bold idea, Your Majesty." Bontang said on the sidelines. Although he was only the king's first attendant, the king never hid it from him. He saw more than any courtier or noble. "But you must consider that Prince Condé is already fifty-one years old, and if he becomes King of Poland, he will have to face a group of greedy and treacherous nobles, a group of foreigners, and even enemies. out there alone."

"I believe that Condé is not a weak man," said Louis, "but he needs to face the enemy, not the relatives and the king."

"As long as he doesn't think you meant to expel him," said Philip, another question quickly occurred to him: "And Sweden, which might feel threatened if Poland becomes a Bourbon domain."

"Sweden did not continue to fight against Poland during the Great Flood, because Sweden was most concerned about Denmark," Louis leaned back: "Let the Swedes deal with Denmark, this is their greatest desire-after all, compared with Poland , Norway is much closer to Sweden.”

"Then will you retain the French territories of the Prince of Condé?" asked Bontang.

"This is what I want to trade with Condé," said Louis, "to see if he is willing to exchange his territory and castle for a kingdom." If Condé is willing, then Louis's efforts and real money in Polish affairs , at least not to lose money.

"If that's the case, it's all-or-nothing for him," Bontang said.

"It depends on how attractive a throne is to him." Louis said.

The matter was thus brought to an end, and the king took the vial full of white powder, and poured its contents on the table, where they shone finely in the light of the candles.

"Is this salt?" Philip asked, but then he realized that it could not be such an ordinary thing.

"It's diamond dust," said Louie. "Come to me, brother."

Philip paused for a moment, and moved from the chair opposite the king to the stool next to the king, "This matter is related to you, Philip." Louis said, even before, when he was talking about Poland and Condé, His expression was not as gloomy either—Philip moved: "Say it, brother," he clenched his fists: "I have nothing to hide, and I have nothing to hide."

"It's not that kind of thing," said Louis. "This bottle of powder is to be thrown into the meals of your wife, the Duchess of Orléans."

Philip's eyes widened all of a sudden. Of course, the worst guess in his mind was that someone wanted to use it to threaten his brother's life and frame this evil thing on him, but he really didn't expect it to be aimed at him Wife, of the Duchess of Orleans.

"But why?" said Philip. "I know there are people who don't like Henrietta, but they can't kill her."

"Those who don't want to see the Anglo-French alliance will." Louis said, he was also surprised at the beginning, although Henrietta was a secret messenger under his arrangement, but when it comes to the Anglo-French alliance, even if there is no She, as well as other messengers, Henrietta is a link, not enough to affect the covenant, "Maybe it's just an attempt." Louis murmured: "For those people, even the tiniest gap..."

"But the masterminds are not the ones we thought," Louis said. Of course, Mrs. Montespan couldn't just deliver a murder weapon: "The one who wants to take Henrietta's life, Philip, is hers." Brother."

"Charles II?"

"No, Duke of York."

Louis sighed: "The Duke of York knows that when Henrietta was in London, not only managed to promote the Anglo-French alliance, but also persuaded Charles II to use witchcraft to let the queen give birth to an heir, and... to trick the Duke of York Marrying the daughter of a Catholic made him lose the support of the Protestants and completely lost the possibility of getting his hands on the throne."

"But isn't it the Duke of York's own choice?" said Philip angrily. The Duke of York was notoriously ruthless.

"Not for him," Louis said. "He is now in secret detention in the Bastille, and this is his confession."