I Am Louis XIV

This expedition of Louis XIV, excluding the expedition to Lorraine and Alsace, should be counted as the third. His propaganda mouthpieces-newspapers, picture albums and mobile theater troupes, all publicized it as much as possible, not Louis They became proud, but unlike the Netherlands and Flanders, this time they went for the enemies of Christ, the Ottoman Turks who believed in the devil. The sultans of the Ottoman Turks had not yet destroyed the glory of their ancestors. Before the war, such an expedition was undoubtedly like another Crusade, pious and brave.

Under such publicity, every Frenchman puffed up his chest. Although the king did not want them to pay additional military service tax, they still managed to raise a military expenditure of 100,000 livres for the king, as well as 500 strong horses. Camargue horse, Camargue horse means "white sea horse". It is a local horse that grows in the Rhone River Delta in southern France. Each horse here is about five feet five inches tall at the withers, and all of them are in the age group. Between two and three years old, this made Louis XIV's army look even more powerful and luxurious, because almost every soldier had a mount under him and one or two pack horses beside him - his dragon. There is no need to say more about the cavalry, guards and musketeers.

In an era without motorcycles and cars, such an army would make any monarch jealous and make any general intoxicated. Marshal Schaumberg said to Louis XIV, fortunately, he still tried his best. He fought for the opportunity to accompany him on the expedition, otherwise he would lose the opportunity to witness this magnificent scene. After hearing this, the Marquis of Lovas couldn't help but stare at him. This scene was indeed amazing, but what followed was Daily military spending has soared to frightening proportions.

"When we leave the Versailles area," Louis XIV said, "the army will move out in batches." This will not put too much pressure on the cities and military warehouses along the way. This time Louis only brought 30,000 troops. The army has a reserve of 20,000 people, and whether it needs to be invested depending on the situation, 50,000 people is almost the permanent population of a small town. When conquering the lowland areas, of course they can conquer the enemy's land, but from here to The gathering place of the coalition forces, that is, the Sava River Basin in Slovenia, passed through most of the French territories. Louis XIV, who cared about the people and was even unwilling to raise taxes during the war, would certainly not do it because of the Roman Church or Leo. The urging of King Baude I harmed France's economy and harvests.

It's about five hundred miles from Paris to the Sava River Basin. According to Louis XIV's speed, they should be able to arrive at the coalition stationed in early June. He also asked a raven to send an autograph to Ludwig I of Poland. Letter to ensure that they can arrive at about the same time - it is best that Ludwig I can arrive later than Louis XIV. The reason is the same as Louis's answer to the ministers. Among the generals, he is the only one who can arrive with him at the same time. The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire kept pace with each other and never fell behind.

In fact, just as Louis expected, they arrived at Camnico on June 7th.

Leopold I agreed to meet King Louis XIV of France here. Since the King of France had never subordinated himself to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, they could not even meet in a building, because a building must only have one main entrance. The order of entry will directly affect subsequent negotiations. If Leopold I allowed the French King to walk in front of him, he would respect the French King, and vice versa.

Therefore, the ministers of France and Austria continued to quarrel until Louis XIV was only three days away from Camnico, and then they reluctantly decided to set up a tent in the large square in the center of the city, with one door open to Vienna and Paris at the same time. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the King of France can enter the tent at the same time, in no particular order.

When Leopold I and Louis XIV saw this arrangement, they couldn't help but look strange and twitch the corners of their mouths - because they seemed to have used this arrangement when welcoming brides, because at this time, the king and emperor only married. A foreign princess is a wife, so a tent with openings at both ends must be set up on the border between the two countries. The princess, the officials of the country, and the noble daughter will enter through one exit. In the tent, all the clothes and jewelry from her mother's family will be replaced by those from her husband's family, and then they will be alone. Go out through the other exit, where you will be greeted by officials and noble ladies from your husband's family...

Louis XIV quickly threw away this ridiculous idea. These officials had already considered it very carefully. The opening of the tent was not only decorated with the flags of France and Louis XIV, but also with royal blue ribbons. At first glance, He knew it was for the exclusive use of the Sun King. He walked in with his cane. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was just right. The top of the tent was made of thin white silk. People inside would only feel cool but not dark or dark. It's depression.

This is the first meeting between Louis XIV and Leopold I, the old enemies. It is not a portrait, not a sculpture, and not from someone else's mouth. However, Louis XIV probably does not think that he regards Leopold I as a Enemies, he said in his heart, if he had to give a definition, it can only be said that they are just fighters fighting each other to the last moment in the bloody arena of Europa for their own country and family.

So no matter what, Louis XIV would not easily place his cherished things or people on the morality and reputation of Leopold I, because if he were Leopold I, he knew exactly what he would do. .

If a director in later generations wants to recreate this scene, it probably won’t be a surprise to see the impression given by Leopold I when Louis XIV was two years old - he was younger than Louis, but the swollen bags under his eyes made him He looked older and more tired than Louis, and his eyebrows were barely straight, but his Habsburg heritage was intact, and only his increasingly protruding big chin even affected his nose - his nose was ugly. Tilted to one side.

He wears long black curly hair, which is, of course, fake. The deep color does not harmonize with his gray-yellow skin. He wears black armor inlaid with pure gold rims, a crimson velvet cloak over his shoulders, and is also leaning on a A cane with a golden handle.

While Louis stood and looked at his enemy and now ally, Leopold I also looked at the French king whom he had heard of for a long time but was meeting for the first time.

In terms of appearance, the Bourbon family is obviously more favored by God. Starting from Louis, they are impeccable in terms of appearance. At most, some people mock them as effeminate because of the French tradition of shaving. ——But Louis XIV was already over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a straight back. Even if he was not a king, but just a knight, the ladies and ladies in the court would chase him like birds asking for food.

If it was just these, it would not be worthy of Leopold I's jealousy. At a glance, he saw the French Dauphin Little Louis dressed exactly like Louis XIV. This fourteen-year-old boy was as tall as his father's shoulders. Wearing a half-length silver armor like Louis XIV, the milky white coat hangs down to his knees, and the peacock blue cloak is half opened, revealing tight pants and boots of the same color as the coat.

He looked vibrant and healthy, the heir that every king or emperor dreamed of.

Another similarity between Leopold I and Louis XIV is that the queen was pregnant when they got married and gave birth to their legitimate son the following year, but Leopold I's eldest son was born She was very weak from the beginning and died after barely supporting her for a year. The eldest princess was lucky enough to survive until now. But for Leopold I, the princess had nothing to be happy about except the marriage. He He was still looking forward to a son, but the queen gave birth to another son for him four years ago. He only had time to give him a name, and the poor child went to see God again. He was born on the same day and died on the same day.

As if God still felt that the blow to Leopold I was not big enough, two years ago, the queen gave birth to another princess. This time she held on longer, from February 9th to February 23rd... Leo Pod I was almost numb, but when he saw the French crown prince today, he thought of his two sons and one daughter who died young, and his chest couldn't help but feel sour.

However, no matter what, the superficial etiquette and gestures of the emperor and Louis XIV still need to be sufficient, so the courtiers who were lucky enough to follow the monarch to the tent saw the two rulers moving their canes towards the people around them in unison. He handed it over in his hand, took two steps forward, touched his chest with his left hand, and took off his hat with his right hand. After bending slightly and bowing, he put on his hat and smiled, holding hands affectionately like a pair of half-brothers. Take a seat at the top.

There is no need to go into details about those utterly hypocritical back-and-forths. The bottom line between Austria and France was determined in hundreds of meetings, large and small, in Vienna and Versailles. Even Leopold I and Louis It is impossible for the Fourteenth to make any modifications on a whim at this time - the reason why Louis XIV was willing to assist Leopold I was to quell some domestic rumors and rumors that questioned his piety - although Louis had also moved the Virgin before Half of the Holy Miracle is there, but when the Catholic League countries were attacked by pagans, France still remained a bystander and even took advantage of the fire to rob it. Others could not help but wonder whether France was still the staunchest supporter of the Roman Church.

Although as the so-called "eldest daughter", France's past behavior was probably no different from that of the legendary Medea (Note 1), Louis XIV did not want to cause trouble, and reached an agreement with the king regarding Madame Aubigne's maternal grandfather. It is not a bad thing to take advantage of the transaction to ease the relationship with the Roman Church. After all, the Roman Church still maintains an unshakable position in the religious world, and at the same time it also controls the power in the other world that far exceeds that of any royal family.

For example, Clement X, his misfortune was that he had a sharp and eager political opponent, and Mrs. Montespan was more ruthless than he expected, which led to the current situation. Otherwise, he could have brought trouble to the Sun King. Some shadowy ones - in addition, it is Louis XIV's arrangement for the Duke of Colonna. He is now the son-in-law of Cosimo III, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the daughter of Gaston, the former Duke of Orleans. After this battle, Louis XIV is about to arrange for him to inherit Naples, but like all inheritance wars, the Roman Church's identification of the heir is an extremely important bargaining chip... Everyone knows the true origin of the Duke of Colonna. If Louis can He won a great victory in the battle against the pagans, and the Duke of Colonna could also get some honors from him.

Leopold I may not have been despicable enough to use pagans to defeat France, but the situation faced by Austria was the same as that of most of the electorates of the Holy Roman Empire, that is, there was no standing army and it could only be recruited hastily during wartime. ——Forget it if it is a war in preparation. When encountering an enemy surprise attack and a huge disparity in strength, this recruitment method will be overwhelming.

Now, in addition to his own army, Leopold I only had the three vassal states of Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria who could provide assistance. The three bishop states headed by the Archbishop of Cologne just looked at it with cold eyes and continued to Thanks to Louis XIV - when they attacked Flanders and the Netherlands, they were allies of France. Of course they can turn a blind eye to Austria's predicament today... and they don't need to prove their piety to the Roman Church. .

In addition to these, there are also some soldiers and troops from Denmark, Switzerland and other countries, which can only be said to be better than nothing...

There is another army that Leopold I is waiting for. The problem is that half of this army belongs to French King Louis XIV, because the commander of this army from Poland is the former Prince of Condé, now Poland King Ludwig I, who arrived on the fourth day after Louis XIV met with Leopold I, went to see the Sun King first that day.

"Give this letter to Prince Jan Sobieski," said Leopold I.

——————

Duke Jan Sobieski complained about the fact that his king went to see the French King Louis XIV first when he came to Camnico, but he also knew very well that without the French King, no matter how brave and good the Condé was, he would not be able to fight. He was unable to secure the Polish throne, and he also had to thank Louis XIV. Without Louis XIV's financial support, Poland's wheat could not be sold at a good price. How could he and Ludwig I get back together? What about some of those rebellious Tatars and Cossacks?

Like in dramas or legends, the kind of good things that can convince others to surrender to oneself just by virtue of wisdom, bravery or courage are simply impossible to happen in reality. He and Ludwig I used sugar, Salt, flour, dried meat, and enough stipends finally made the barbarians change their minds. Even so, only a small part of them. Some Tatars and Cossacks simply threw themselves into the arms of the Ottoman Turks, and the other part Returned to Russia.

Note 1:

Medea, also translated as Medea. In Greek mythology, she was a magical princess of the island of Cochis and a descendant of the sun god Helios. She fell in love at first sight with Prince Jason who came to the island in search of the Golden Fleece.

In order to help Jason obtain the Golden Fleece, Medea used her magic to help Jason complete the impossible task set by his father, on the condition that Jason marry her. After obtaining the Golden Fleece, Medea and Jason embarked on a journey back to Greece. Medea's father heard of her escape and sent her brother to recover her. Medea killed her younger brother, cut her body into pieces, and threw them all over the mountain, leaving her father and the pursuing officers busy collecting the body, thus delaying her departure with Jason and his companions.