I Am Louis XIV

"I think there is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to make France richer and richer forever."

This sentence was written by the Marquis de Seigneret in a letter to his father Colbert. There is no doubt that it is a ridicule to Louis XIV, but the king is not harsh on the people around him, and this sentence This can also be said to be the truth. Princess Henrietta's dowry was thirty Calais ships, but in the end only seven steam ironclads were completed. In addition to the fact that the development of steam engines has not yet reached perfection, Each huge ironclad ship consumes nearly thirty tons of steel for its single armor. Even if Louis XIV has obtained Lorraine, which has huge coal and iron ore reserves, this has already accounted for most of France's steel reserves in the past ten years. .

Regardless of money, gentlemen and ladies, the cost of modifications and other configurations such as artillery are not included. The application report submitted by Mr. Denis Papin and his team is on the desk of the Marquis de Seignore. There was a thick pile on it, and the Marquis of Senele had to warn him that if he discovered anything ulterior in it, he would ask the king to hang him on a cross in the harbor, just like To a lowly pirate—Mr. Papin swore that he had not falsely reported even a single riad (copper coin), whatever the Marquis de Seigneret said.

When Senele complained to the king that this Huguenot was too rampant, the king in a good mood told him that if he really couldn't stand Mr. Papin, there was a way to get him to take revenge - that is Give him more work.

The Marquis de Seigneret was very interested in this proposal, but neither the king nor he were experts when it came to the subject. However, Mr. Papin's use of rubber in pressure cookers and steam engines reminded the king that he could make the Savoy Mr. Muir Moran came to complete the subsequent work with Mr. Papin.

Samuel Moran was the man who supplied Mr. Papin with the rubber.

Rubber appeared on the continent of Europa much earlier than people thought. When Columbus first set foot in South America, he saw Indian children and young people singing songs and throwing a kind of rubber to each other. Small balls, these small balls have extremely excellent elasticity and resilience, but will become soft when the weather is hot, and have a pungent smell - these small balls are made by the Indians from the secretions of certain trees. Yes, this kind of thing that was originally a liquid and becomes an elastic solid after solidification can be rubbed on the cloth and feet, so that no water will penetrate or get wet.

But for most Europeans, this kind of thing that can neither be eaten nor used is just a toy. Mr. Papin first built the prototype of the steam engine, but he must say that the first steam engine was not very practical, or not cost-effective - most of the steam would flow out from the gaps in the machine accessories. At first, he used cotton cloth, then silk, and later asphalt and cow and sheep skin to seal the gaps, but all failed. The work done by the steam engine was very large, large enough to destroy most of the sealing materials. Later, he simply turned to sealing. The king asked, is there a material that is tough and can withstand high temperatures and crushing? The king posed this question to his Academy of Sciences, and luckily, Samuel Moran, one of the king's scholars, happened to be studying rubber.

Of course, the work on the improvement of steam engines will continue, but the king can understand the concerns of the Marquis de Senele. Of course, it is not rational to let a Huguenot monopolize this vital research work, although although It is inevitable for scientists to have conflicts with each other and even compete for patents, but Mr. Papin will definitely be happy to see Moran, because Mr. Moran also has a deep understanding and outstanding talent for steam engines, and rubber is what he wants to solve. Materials sought for the sealing properties of the piston.

"But the most important thing is to ensure the safety and stability of the steam boiler." The king added that it doesn't matter if it's slow, and it's okay if there is an occasional glitch, but just don't explode. Think about the waste he wasted on these iron-clad ships. King Louis, as well as thousands of officers and soldiers on board if war breaks out...

The Marquis of Seigneret immediately obeyed, and then he couldn't help but look at the King Power anchored in the battleship group purchased by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld from the Netherlands. Although the King Power was taller and wider than these battleships, it looked smaller. It was not very conspicuous, and the king ordered the craftsmen to paint all these ships with black paint, so that when people walked next to the King Power, they would notice that it was covered in iron armor like a knight.

"I really don't know when I can see it crossing the sea." Marquis Senele said involuntarily.

"Perhaps soon." Time has changed. Countries cannot always be enemies, nor can they always be friends. Charles II, who already has an heir, hangs the heads of Protestants on the bell tower of the cathedral. , did not convert to Catholicism as agreed with Louis XIV, which is understandable for a king-after the Duke of York had a marriage contract with a Catholic daughter, in order to stabilize the mood of the Protestants in the country, he had fought for them Of course, it was better for Charles II to be a Protestant king. Of course, this made Louis XIV's position a bit embarrassing - after all, the Dover Contract was a secret contract, and there were too many things in it that could not be made public. It was like it was still preserved in The Flanders Contract between Louis XIV and Leopold I in the hands of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Speaking of the Grand Duke of Tuscany... When Louis, the Duke of Orleans and the young royal family returned to Versailles, the first envoy allowed to see the king was the envoy of Cosimo III. The younger brother of Cosimo III, Francesco Maria de' Medici.

Francesco was born in 1960, the same age as the Dauphin Louis. He was still a young man who was very interested in watching everything. However, he did not need to bear much responsibility. His purpose was both Louis XIV and Grand Duke Cosimo III. There had been a tacit understanding for a long time - that is, to enter into a marriage between the Duke of Colonna, the first-born son of Louis XIV, and Anna, the daughter of Cosimo III, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

In fact, this marriage cannot be said to be a good match, because the Duke of Colonna is only a title, and the Colonna family cannot give up their territory in Rome. Therefore, the Duke of Colonna is only a title and does not have a fief. When discussing the marriage contract, Prince Conti, the representative of Louis XIV, stated that Louis XIV would entrust part of Flanders to the Duke of Colonna until the Duke of Colonna inherited Naples as the son-in-law of the Bourbon family.

Here we have to mention the new identity of the Duke of Colonna. Since the Duke of Colonna already has a formal identity, Louis will not admit that he is his son in any public place, let alone confirm it legally, so if the Duke of Colonna If you want to get Naples, you must be the son-in-law of the Bourbon family - this identity comes from Margaret Louise de Orleans who married Cosimo III and was the wife of Gaston, the former Duke of Orleans. Daughter and cousin of Louis XIV.

However, this Lady Margaret hated Louis XIV and her half-sister, the Duchess of Montpensier. Especially the Duke Gaston died in pain and curse, and her mother and sisters were After being driven out of Orleans, her relationship with Cosimo III was already extremely bad - perhaps because her father once planned the throne of the King of France. This lady often regarded herself as a French princess, and she was very fond of the French princess since she was a child. The Duchess of Montpensier, who grew up in the Louvre, was jealous and resentful. When she heard that her husband intended to marry their daughter to the King's illegitimate son, the Duke of Colonna, she was like a ignited powder keg. , shouted without hesitation.

Seeing this, please don’t think that this mother has much love for her daughter. She is not angry that her husband wants to marry her daughter to an unblessed illegitimate son, but because this illegitimate son is Louis. The eldest son of the 14th, she ignored the envoys of the King of France and quarreled with Cosimo III in the Pitti Palace, insulting him as a "mama's good boy", "a wretch", etc., although Cosimo III did have For a period of time, he was tired of handling government affairs and transferred his responsibilities and powers to his mother, but he could not bear the shame. In a handwritten letter to Louis XIV, he begged Louis XIV to put this shrew away. "Take it back", the proportion of this matter in the letter even exceeded the marriage they were discussing.

Louis also heard about Margaret, Gaston's daughter. Perhaps she always thought that this marriage was a humiliation for her. In order to compensate for herself, she had been trying to make up for herself since she entered Florence. Grabbing as much money as possible - this is really a jaw-dropping thing for a noble princess. Cosimo III may not be a good husband, but at least he gave Margaret enough respect... How should I put it? His gift to his newlywed wife was a pearl the size of a dove egg. From then on, only Margaret If she asked, he would give her jewelry as a gift—even Queen Theresa would only receive jewelry from the king on birthdays, childbirth, or important days—but Margaret did not cherish blessings very much. After giving birth to her eldest son Ferdinand, she did not want to have more children. When she was pregnant with her daughter Anna, she went horseback riding in the hope of aborting the baby.

For a mother like this, how much love can you expect her to have for her daughter?

It made Cosimo III make this request to Louis XIV despite Margaret giving birth to his youngest son. It seems that he was almost driven crazy by torture, because the relationship between him and Margaret had already With three children, the only daughter still has to marry the Duke of Colonna. It is probably impossible to terminate the engagement on the grounds of not having sex, so the only way is to send his wife to a convent - he said in the letter , he was exhausted, just to recover his wife who almost ran away with all the jewelry of the Medici family - when he saw this, Louis XIV couldn't help but be moved. The Medici family flourished during the Renaissance , is also a businessman, and has had two popes and one queen. It is obvious that Margaret has a huge appetite for the treasures accumulated over hundreds of years. It is no wonder that Cosimo III would be so angry.

Most marriages in this era were political or business engagements, especially the marriage between Cosimo III and Princess Margaret, which connected the Medici and the Bourbons. He was not asking Louis XIV for help, but She is pleading with him to allow her to dissolve the marriage on a substantive level - this is not unprecedented... Just like the former madwoman Juana, she was deprived of the power and freedom of the queen because of the conspiracy of her husband and father. .

In short, it can be said that Louis XIV agreed to Cosimo III's request in a dumbfounded way. Speaking of which, the Grand Duke of Tuscany was four years younger than Louis, but according to Prince Conti, he was already two years old. Frosty white.

"I'm worried about Anna Medici now," Louis said to Prince Conti: "Has she been influenced by her mother?" Not every child can have such maturity in the body of Louis XIV. Louis knew very well how much influence children will have on their parents, so after the Duke of Colonna could leave his mother, even then Louis was only able to establish a firm foothold, and resolutely removed the Duke of Colonna from Cayo. Rashima moved to Calais and tried every means to find time to accompany him and teach him.

"The Grand Duke still loved her very much, and Lady Margaret hated her and didn't want to see her, so she grew up under her grandmother's knees."

"That's great," Louis said, and then he turned back, "Come here, son, and come see your fiancée."

The Duke of Colonna forced himself to be calm and walked out, and the sound of laughter and laughter came from the curtain behind him. It seemed that the children who had become more harmonious after returning from Nantes were all here. Francesco looked at him with stern eyes. Looking at the Duke of Colonna, although the latter's title comes from the Colonna family in Italy, he almost grew up in France, so Francesco saw him for the first time - although he had seen the portrait before, There is still a difference between a portrait and a real person. Even if the Duke of Colonna does not need a painter to beautify him, he is still a good young man with impressive appearance.

Whether it is a political marriage or a commercial marriage, the young man who sees his fiancée for the first time will definitely be very nervous. After the attendants lifted the curtain covering the canvas, the Duke of Colonna relaxed visibly - Toss The only daughter of Grand Duke Cana inherited the Grand Duke's appearance rather than Princess Margaret's, but her face and contours are softer. Although her posture is a bit stiff, it can be seen that her skin is fair and her eyebrows are thick. Her eyes are shiny and her black curly hair falls on her round shoulders, making her look very cute.

The Duke of Colonna turned and looked at the king, who raised his hand encouragingly.

"I have a gift here, please pass it on to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici."

The Duke of Colonna said, his voice trembling slightly, but also with a bit of expectation. This sun-faced diamond brooch is as valuable as the pearl as big as a bird's egg. Cosimo III must have understood what Louis XIV meant. The Duke of Colonna fulfilled this engagement not only as the Duke of Colonna, but also as the son of the King of France.

Although Cosimo III was a bit stubborn, he was not stupid. On the day the engagement was signed, he transferred a castle in Siena to the Duke of Colonna in return.