I Am Louis XIV

The first impression that Paris left on Anna de Medici was the countless people.

Anna was not loved by her mother, or in other words, none of the three children were loved by their mother, so she grew up under the knees of Cosimo III's mother, her grandmother, which prevented her from being affected by Margo. Lite's bad influence also caused a child to lose all innocence - Cosimo III's mother was also an ambitious woman. When Cosimo III was a minor, she ruled Tuscany on his behalf. Cosimo III She fell silent for a while as an adult, but when Cosimo III lost interest in government affairs, she became the uncrowned king of Florence with great interest.

For such a grandmother, it is unlikely that Anna would get much love from her. She grew up quietly in a monastery. Generally speaking, like many aristocratic women, she would stay in the monastery until ten years old. At the age of four or fifteen, she was ready to get married, passing from her father's hand to her husband's hand all the time - but she was lucky that her fiancé was the most powerful European country, and the king of France would not do that. If your daughter chooses an unfit husband, she will not choose an undesirable wife for her son - even if their marriage is more out of political needs than love.

After Louis XIV entered into a marriage contract with Teresa of Habsburg, he wrote letters to let his wife understand him, France, and the court, so that she would not be confused with her former husband after marrying all the way to France. The Queen Mother was so depressed and embarrassed - he also used this method on his son's wife, because Cosimo III and the Duke of Gaston's daughter, Louis' cousin, had already formed a de facto separation. relationship, but at this point, the French king's willingness to "recycle" their princess can be said to be quite magnanimous, so he also made concessions on the other hand, that is, allowing his daughter to receive education in Paris and Versailles instead of Remain in a monastery in Rome.

Nominally, Anna accompanied her mother back to Paris and was then introduced to the Palace of Versailles, but then she would spend six years or more as a student in a school opened by the king - but this was also The next thing is that they first have to go to see the king who is in the Louvre.

Montmartre is not far from Paris, but because of some flattering mentality that cannot be expressed verbally, the official responsible for receiving the princess led a motorcade into Paris through the Princess Gate on the upper left side of the Louvre. Although it is called the City Gate, it is The Porte de la Princesse is just an independent building in the style of a triumphal arch. Although it is extremely gorgeous, it has no practical function. This involves Louis XIV's reset of Paris, because he did not intend for Paris to continue to be the political and military center of France. , then the original collapsed and decaying city walls of Paris were almost useless. Although he could rebuild them, but now that the power of artillery became more and more amazing, the defensive role of the city walls was getting lower and lower, so King Philippe finally destroyed all the walls. The city walls were all demolished, and a wide boulevard was built around Paris.

This ring-shaped boulevard connects with the Queen's Boulevard behind the Princess Gate, which surprised Anna and her entourage, because in this era, city walls and gates not only defended against foreign enemies, but also played a role in distinguishing the city from the countryside. But when they thought about it, the suburbs of Paris were almost the same as the towns they knew. There were also clean roads and grounds, dense houses and people. It was just that this scene became more obvious after entering the Princess Gate. .

The Queen's Boulevard is large enough to allow four carriages to travel side by side. Even so, the horses, carriages and people are still moving very slowly. They can still maintain order and continue moving forward, thanks to the clear division of sidewalks and carriage lanes. , the rule of walking on the right and the police who appear from time to time.

Anna's carriage was wrapped up in it, moving forward at an almost crawling speed, no different from the civilians on foot. The princess's wet nurse couldn't help but complain, thinking that the officials who received them should take some measures. Anna's lady officer shook her head after watching for a while: "I don't think it is possible," she said: "I saw the carriage of the Duke and the Marquis, not far from us."

"Are we..." the wet nurse asked hesitantly. She suspected that this embarrassing situation was deliberately caused by someone in the palace, but the female official just waved her hand, "It should be just an accident." She saw a person coming from the palace. Get off the carriage, untie a horse from the carriage, get on it and drive away, which is faster than a carriage. But they couldn't do that, and there was no need. No matter how slow they were, they could arrive at the Louvre within an hour, and they would not meet the king until tomorrow.

She was not angry or suspicious about Anna Medici. It was the first time she saw so many people, and she was almost shocked - they were walking crowded together, with rosy faces and full of airs. Most were dressed in satin and velvet, and if not, they were embellished with lots of lace and ribbons. Many young men or men in their prime were wearing royal blue, crimson or white coats, and because of their epaulettes and shoulder straps, it was immediately obvious that they were serving the king - and some were brave and strong. The men's epaulettes have gold tassels hanging down, and the broad waistband is knotted and hangs down from one side. The edges are also hung with tassels, and there is a gorgeous medal hanging on the chest... Young Anna may not know what it means. What, but the maid next to her had already shown a meaningful smile. After being glanced at by the female officer, she had to restrain herself for a while, but not long after, she couldn't help but look at her greedily.

The female officer also felt a little helpless. The Medici family could not be compared with Habsburg or Bourbon in terms of heritage. There were not many real noble ladies in the palace of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. There are not many choices for these maids. They follow the princess to Paris and Versailles. The most important thing is to rely on their appearance and generous dowry to win a husband for themselves - such as members of the royal family or big nobles. It's possible, but it's still very possible for those nobles in robes, especially the upstarts in the army who were single-handedly promoted by the king because of the two wars. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that these people have a bright future.

As for Anna of the Medici, although she is more calm than her peers, she is still a child after all. She has been completely attracted by the bright windows on both sides of the street - the new neighborhood built by Duke Philip of Orleans for the king is all The three- or four-story houses have shops on the ground floor, and people live in the attics on the second and third floors. And because the king issued a temporary charter, allowing Parisians to have the greatest freedom during these fifty days, all shops are They tried their best to attract customers. They either shouted, blew horns and bells, made huge signs, hung the goods directly outside the windows and doors, or let some flexible Boys ran around distributing leaflets, and some hired wandering entertainers to perform magic and burlesque. This behavior undoubtedly led to further congestion.

Before the police could come to drive them away, someone in the crowd shouted that something had been stolen. Of course, this was also a carnival day for thieves. Everyone was wearing their best clothes, jewelry, wigs and handkerchiefs, and soldiers and The officers also carried muskets and daggers... Some thieves were caught, and some were not caught. The police were exhausted and the onlookers laughed with gloating.

There are also scoundrels with ulterior motives who put their hands into a woman's shawl, causing a scream. Similarly, if they are caught, they will be beaten easily. If they are not caught, or they are caught, but that person The lady doesn't care, so it's possible to achieve a good thing, so it doesn't matter - the female officer took one look at it, then reached out and pulled the car curtain to cover the last gap.

In short, "It's so depraved, so depraved," Anna's wet nurse said, crossing herself.

The female officer just smiled: "Romans are not qualified to accuse others."

The wet nurse moved her lips disapprovingly, but still did not refute. This lady's background is not very glorious. It is said that her father is a prisoner and her mother is the daughter of the prison warden. Although she is smart and agile, she has almost no dowry because of her delicate appearance. When she was sixteen years old, she found a A forty-two-year-old husband died a few years after their marriage, leaving her no children or much inheritance. This lady was able to live in Tuscany solely by virtue of her outstanding talent and her husband's few connections. She found a job with the Grand Duke. She was just a nanny for the Grand Duke's eldest son at first, but her talent eventually caught the Grand Duke's attention. After the Grand Duke's eldest son no longer needed a nanny, the Grand Duke asked her to take care of his eldest daughter Anna. After all, no one expected the princess's mother to do anything.

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"It seems that we are about to begin the evacuation three leagues from Paris," said the Duke of Orleans.

"I really didn't expect there to be so many people," Louis said. "I thought I only had 20 million people."

"You have to be considerate of people's mood." The Duke of Orleans bit the tip of his quill and said: "Although you held a victory banquet in Versailles, not everyone is eligible to enter the Palace of Versailles, and since you came to the throne, there have been almost no A grand party was held in Paris - Paris is obviously much better now than in the past. People from other provinces have long hoped to have a chance to see its beauty. Parisians also hope so. They have always been worried that you have completely given up on Paris. , I will only be your king at Versailles."

"And the French people today hardly have to worry about a great famine," Colbert said with satisfaction: "Any businessman knows that when people are hungry, don't even do wheat business, but wait until people are full of wine and food. When you are full, even dog shit can be sold. You have not convened the Estates-General for twenty years, and you would rather pawn Fontainebleau than continue to raise taxes on the peasants. I have never seen Saint-Louis, But, Your Majesty, if someone pointed at you and said, This is Saint Louis, I don’t think anyone would object.”

Ten years ago, Louis would have been really embarrassed, but now he is completely used to it - the ministers in Paris and Versailles only occasionally complimented him, while the officials and priests in other provinces could talk endlessly for a whole day if they could. If this ability could be applied to the military or people's livelihood, Louis would not always be jealous of Oliver Cromwell.

"One more thing," Louis said to Colbert: "I intend to allow the residents of Paris to rent out their spare rooms during these fifty days." There are too many people coming to Paris, and the original hotels and inns in Paris simply cannot It is unrealistic to accommodate so many guests, but it is unrealistic to encourage people to open hotels. After all, such a flow of people will only appear in fifty days. However, if someone is willing to rent out empty rooms to make a fortune, it will benefit both parties.

"That's a good thing," Colbert said. "So how much tax are we going to have?"

"One-fifth." The king said, "After all, this is additional income, and it doesn't cost much." He paused: "Set another price and don't allow them to increase prices without limit." The reason why he did this , because Count d'Artagnan said that the room on the Queen's Boulevard had already cost ten gold louis a day, and three meals were not included.

While they were saying this, little Louis, the dauphin, asked for an audience, and then they saw a group of children coming in with incredulous expressions.

It turns out that in order to settle the disputes among artists, the former crown prince Louis came up with the method of using real money and silver "appreciation" to determine his or her ranking. This method is not perfect, because the public's appreciation is often affected by status and status. restrictions, but at this time, there is only this way to get these unruly guys to accept the king's arrangements.

"Have you encountered any difficulty?" asked the Duke of Orleans.