I Am Louis XIV

After the Poles and Prince Condé left, Viscount Turenne also left for the Netherlands. Versailles and Paris entered a quiet and relaxed period. There were no wars abroad and no riots at home. The king and his brother had a rare long time together. Let’s pay attention to the education of children - although the children of the royal family are surrounded by countless nannies, maids, attendants, and professors that are rare for ordinary people, many of the problems they will face are only the skills of a king and a ruler. answered.

Moreover, the previous abnormalities of the princess had attracted the attention of the king. The Duke of Orleans was at a loss at first - he did not understand why the princess did not ask her father and uncle for help. After Louis inquired about her situation, he told the Duke of Orleans It is said that this is because her mother is the British princess Henrietta. Henrietta had an unfortunate childhood. She never saw her father when she was born, and her brother was homeless. She and her mother lived under someone else's roof. Henrietta grew up under such circumstances. Although Princess Tower has a tough temperament, she cannot help but have some flaws in her character - in the years when the princess grew up, the king and the Duke of Orleans were away at war, and if she sought guidance and help, she could only seek guidance and help from her mother or the queen. , the Queen Mother.

So the question arises. The Duchess of Orleans, the Queen and the Queen Mother are not vicious people, but they all have a unified identity, that is, they are princesses of a country in a political marriage. They are used to accepting the arrangements of others and fate, and doing so Ready to make sacrifices - meeting Louis and the Duke of Orleans can only be said to be their luck. Regardless of anything else, Queen Mother Anne and Louis XIII have not had children for 20 years. Is it her fault? You know, she not only has Louis, but also Philip.

But Louis did not want his daughter and niece to embark on the road of suffering. That is the road of the savior and should not be for these lovely girls.

So, after the preparations for each academy were getting better and the children, mainly the eldest princess and little Eugen, finally had real cheerful smiles on their faces, the special courses for the king and the duke began. In the small hall at the end of the Venus Room - known as the Cupid Hall because the dome is a ceiling painting with the theme of Cupid and Pushke (Cupid's lover) - this small hall was originally used It was prepared as a rest room for the king and other dignitaries. There were huge glass windows on three sides, forming a four-cornered window. In front of the window was a windowsill wide enough to accommodate a person lying on it. But today everyone was sitting in front of the window. The carpet is thick, warm and delicate, with patterns of flowers, plants and birds, vibrant and colorful. This is also a precious heritage, one of the trophies brought back from Egypt by Louis IX.

But no matter how precious it is, to the king, his brother and their children, it is just an ordinary piece of furniture. They sit on this huge carpet, enjoying the sunshine and rich food - this moment is both Not in the morning, not at noon, and not in the evening. According to the will of the church, it is undoubtedly a sin to eat when not eating. Louis does not care about this. In view of the animal nature of human beings, people cannot eat when they are nervous. It is inevitable that you will also relax when you are doing things.

They were the only ones in this hall, and the only person serving them was Bangtang, the shadow of the king. If there was any need, Bangtang would go outside and order the attendants waiting fifty feet away. In addition to creating a relaxed and private atmosphere In addition, the following courses involve some sensitive topics.

After enjoying the small cakes, citrus jam, coffee and milk, the children's nerves finally became less tense, and Louis looked over one by one. Of course, the eldest among these children was his firstborn son. The Duke of Colonna, he will come of age next year, so the king will not let him leave Versailles. His coming-of-age ceremony will be presided over by the king, which is also an apology for imprisoning his mother, the Duchess of Colonna; followed by the crown prince Louis, Trey Queen Elizabeth was pregnant when she came to Paris and gave birth to a child the following year. Louis knew that the Queen Mother was a little disappointed because little Louis was not as mature, smart and calm as him. This was a bit unfair. Louis knew very well that he was not a real child. , Fortunately, other ministers are already satisfied - look at Carlos II of Spain, and look at Carl XI of Sweden, they are not as healthy and smart as the crown prince! ;Then there is the eldest princess, who came into this world right on the heels of the crown prince. She probably did not know that her health made Louis relieved, which showed that his incest marriage with Queen Theresa did not lead to a disaster. The most tragic consequence was that little Louis' health was not an accident or a fluke, so the king unconsciously had more preference for her; next was the eldest princess Marie, who was the first child of the Duke of Orleans and had a healthy heart. And she has a kind heart. This can be seen from the fact that when she thought she was going to be married to the Spanish King Carlos II, who was deformed and sickly and destined to have almost no heirs, she did not hate or envy the eldest princess Elizabeth. , but while being kind, she is also too introverted and thoughtful, which is not a good thing for someone who will inevitably become a queen in the future. I only hope that these days of busyness can make her change.

After the eldest princess, there are the distant relatives of the king. One is little Eugen. His relationship with the king apparently comes from Bourbon, but in fact he comes from Habsburg. There is also little Duke of Enghien, who is the grandson of Condé. , in order to make him eligible to stay in Versailles, the king deliberately canonized this little monster who was only knee high in advance.

The little monster was not the king's nickname for him, but a contemptuous name. Although Louis showed goodwill towards the Condé family, since Prince Condé handed over the fief and castle, the family was equivalent to being cut off in France. With his roots intact, Louis could punish those who were unfriendly to him, but he could not force people to care for him from the bottom of their hearts. The trend of favoring others in the Palace of Versailles was not only deeply ingrained, but was also intentionally promoted by the king. The little Duke of Enghien was too young. As a last resort, Louis had to ask the eldest princess and the eldest princess to take turns taking care of the poor child.

The young Duke of Enghien also represents another lack of education in aristocratic families. The wife of Prince Henry, the eldest son of Prince Condé, Anna of Bavaria, did not receive much orthodox education. Henry has been following his father in Flanders and the Netherlands. During the war, according to tradition, his eldest son was handed over to wet nurses and maids as soon as he was born. People at that time had no idea about the early education that babies should have. Because the mortality rate was too high, some people also asked parents not to get close to each other too frequently. Whether the child can grow up healthily or not depends on the responsibility of the wet nurse and the maid, and the little Duke of Enghien unfortunately met the most irresponsible ones.

They may think that it will be okay to blame the child's own madness. After all, rude princes and kings are not uncommon in various countries. Many aristocratic children need corporal punishment to correct the bad habits developed in childhood. But the children His grandfather, father, and even the king were not the kind of people who would be easily dealt with. They were sent to the Bastille for murdering nobles. Even Henry's wife, Anna of Bavaria, was scolded. , was expelled from Versailles, far away from the center of power and glory.

Compared with the eldest princess, the eldest princess Mary was more patient. After taking care of the little Duke of Enghien for a period of time, she told the king very seriously that the little Duke of Enghien was not as naturally a rough person as they thought. The reason why he always yells is because no one will pay attention to him otherwise. As long as he responds in time, he will not make too much noise; he is disobedient because no one has taught him to speak and he cannot listen. Even if he doesn't understand, he can't say it. Of course he will feel painful and uneasy. He even likes to bite people because it is the only way to communicate with people besides crying and yelling. Having said this, the eldest princess proudly showed the king the leather gloves she was wearing - the little Duke of Enghien was not a real dog after all, and all the teeth of a four or five-year-old child could not bite through the tough lambskin.

In any case, in just a few months, the young Duke of Enghien has established a deep relationship with the eldest princess. Although the Duke of Orleans will occasionally twitch the corner of his eye, if you don't look at the age, the couple is simply a mother and son... The king also felt that when the princess fed the little Duke of Enghien cakes with a spoon, he always felt that he was playing house with the princess, and the little Duke of Enghien obviously acted as the big doll.

Anyway, today's class finally started. The drinks and meals were moved aside. Bontang personally moved a lot of things. The first thing he opened was a folded drawing board. After opening it, you can see that it depicts A simplified map of Poland and surrounding countries. The box on one side contains a dazzling array of flags and small sculptures, as well as wheat in jars and scattered coins.

After the drawing board was opened, Louis first picked up a small figure. "This is our Prince Condé," he said, "but he was crowned with a sword in the Cathedral of St. John in Warsaw three months ago." A red and white flag is placed in the hollow of the arms of the little man wearing the crown, representing Poland: "So we should call him..."

"Louis!" Everyone was a little surprised. The first person to speak was not the Crown Prince or the Duke of Colonna, but the little Duke of Enghien who was sitting in the arms of the princess. His finger pointed firmly at that person. Villain: "Louis I!"

"Please forgive me," the princess said quickly, "I have been teaching him how to speak these days."

"You are teaching the name of Prince Condé?" Of course Louis would not be angry: "Yes," he took the hand of the little Duke of Enghien in a friendly way. The child always remembers new things deeply, and the eldest princess will definitely repeat it. Many times: "But not Louis I," he explained patiently: "It should be said, it is Ludwik I, because in Polish Louis is pronounced Ludwik, although in 1370 Anjou Louis once served as the King of Poland, but he was also the King of Hungary, so although he entered Poland because he was the nephew of the old king, he still used the title of King of Hungary and was known as Lajos I." He paused. , "So Conde, your grandfather was King Ludwik I of Poland."

Ludwick's pronunciation was obviously more complicated than Louis. The little Duke of Enghien muttered many times, but could not correctly pronounce the syllables except "road". In a fit of anger, he threw himself into the arms of the princess and used his butt Facing the king, she said nothing. Although the princess was very anxious, she still couldn't bear to blame him. She could only plead with the king with her eyes and gently stroke the little duke's fluffy hair.

Louis glanced at them and then at the Duke of Orleans next to him. The expressions on their faces were indescribable. The reason why they were like this was because after being crowned with a sword, Prince Condé wrote a letter to Louis in the name of the King of Poland. A letter, intending to marry the young Duke of Enghien to the eldest princess. Although the age difference between the two is more than five years, the difference will appear more abrupt when they are young, and it will not be so conspicuous after adulthood. ...For example, Henry VIII of England, when he married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine was five years older than him.

This marriage is undoubtedly beneficial to the princess. It not only prevents things like Carlos II from happening again, but also prevents the princess from having to live a lonely life because she failed to find a suitable marriage. For women, Said that if the little Duke of Enghien comes of age, she happens to be twenty years old, which is the best age for women to conceive and give birth... Wait, Louis just thought about it, and he felt like he was deliberately promoting something A sinful marriage contract - even if Philip IV of Spain married his own niece, it would still be better than mother and son.

The Duke of Orleans also felt this way. He sincerely hoped that Ludwik I would not stay in Poland for too long. He was afraid that ten years later, the adult Duke of Enghien would hold a girl's hand and walk to Princess Mary. Seek the blessing of an elder before...

The two brothers were immediately disgusted by their imagination. They looked at each other and changed their original minds. Unless the little Duke of Enghien could be picked up immediately, it would be better to... let go of the marriage, even if the little Duke of Enghien would come in the future. Probably the King of Poland.

Louis reached for another little figure, mounted on a horse and holding a scepter, and moved it to the southern border of Poland: "Guess who this is?" he asked.

"Jan Sobieski." Duke Colonna replied. The villain's face is similar, but now only Sobieski is fighting with the Ottoman Turks on the southern border of Poland. The other Schlachta are not waiting and watching. They were negotiating peace with the Turks, and they even had ulterior motives in wanting the new king, Ludvik I, to sign the peace treaty and nail him to the pillar of shame.

"The correct answer," said the king, and placed beside him a line of little men also on horseback. "He is fighting against the Ottoman Turks."

"Did he win?" Little Eugen suddenly asked.