I Am Louis XIV

At about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, the well-dressed Louis XIV also walked out of his palace. This huge ancient mansion originally belonged to the Duke of Colonna, but before Louis XIV entered Rome, Colonna The head of the Na family has given up the mansion and hung a blue-and-gold lily flag on the lintel and under the terrace.

This courtesy was completely worth it. Louis XIV did not ride a horse this time, but took a carriage to Florence. In the carriage, he was accompanied by the Marquis of Lovas and the head of the Colonna family. He had a very common name, called Giovanni is very common among Italians, and his appearance is like any Italian, with dark hair and eyes, with a melancholy and restless temperament.

Next to Louis XIV was the Dauphin Little Louis. Little Louis was a little excited. Of course, who wouldn’t want to see Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance and a world-famous resort. Even if Paris and Versailles came from behind, people would still say "They are like the second Florence." Thinking that he would soon go to that city that was like pearls and flowers, the young prince couldn't calm down at all.

Louis gently hugged the crown prince's shoulders and kept his pitiful eyes. The city's information had long been sent to his desk in detail. In the letter from the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he also tactfully stated It tells some embarrassing facts - Florence may have once been like a pearl or a flower, but now the luster of the pearl has long disappeared, leaving only a dull and yellowish surface, and the flowers have long since withered, and only a few can be used to recall the past. s color.

It seemed that little Louis, the dauphin, must be disappointed along with the thousand brave and hopeful soldiers.

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Nicolas Cardinal and Sebastian Vauban were riding side by side. They were all dressed very brightly today, as were the soldiers and officers. Their horses had been brushed several times, and every mane was They were all shining, their muskets and scabbards had been polished again and again, and their boots were equipped with pure silver or silver-plated spurs. Some of them were also covered with furs exchanged from the Hussars or the Tatars. , completely regardless of how hot the weather is today.

They were quite happy at first, but the further they walked, the more silent they became, and their eyes were full of disbelief.

When Catina and Vauban arrived in the town of Colonna, they were shocked by the ruin of the town, but they immediately thought that this was just a Roman town, not a big city like Siena and Florence. It is not surprising that people's livelihood has declined due to various reasons - and the poverty and desolation here have also saved them a lot of trouble - the Italians do not have a good impression of the French, but the residents here have discovered that these French soldiers They will not rob or kill, nor will they burn their houses. If they like their things, whether they are ornaments, furniture or food, they are willing to bring real money and louis (coins). If they buy something, they immediately put aside their prejudices and start doing business happily.

Cardinale and Vauban's ideas are of course wrong. The Colonna family has been operating in Rome for many years and has produced a pope and several red princes. How could their ancestral home, the town of Colonna, be like an ordinary village in France? So desolate and poor? It's just that the Italian lords still inherited the practices of hundreds of years ago, taxing their people and doing whatever they wanted.

They thought the situation in the town of Colonna was bad enough, but they didn't expect that after leaving the town of Colonna, the road under their feet quickly became broken - broken in a literal sense. The roads built during the ancient Roman period may have It has not been carefully repaired for hundreds of years. There are cracked stones everywhere, and thorns have grown out of the cracks. The cracks have formed pits, and there is still water inside. In addition to these, there are also fallen trees, spreading to The vines on the road - some of the fallen trees are natural and some are man-made. There may be many robbers here who want to rob the road. They put down the trees, only to find that what came was not a lamb, but a whole body. The armored lion immediately fled.

The soldiers had to take off their smart coats and get to work, luckily they were used to doing this since their General Vauban was an infrastructure maniac. The road was quickly cleared and the carriage continued to move forward. Little Louis, the Dauphin, kept looking out.

He saw the long and monotonous burnt brown color that spread to the horizon. Although Tuscany is not a major grain-producing area in Italy, the crown prince Louis has personally participated in large projects and also went to see it with his father. Of course, he knew that this situation was a little abnormal about the farmland in Versailles. This was not what plowed or harvested ground looked like.

They arrived at a city in the evening. The mayor and citizens lined the streets to welcome the King of France and his army. When the Crown Prince jumped out of the car, he almost tripped over a clump of rye grass and ate one. Shocked, I thought someone had accidentally lost a bundle of horse grass here, but then I silently realized that these rye grasses did not fall on the ground, but grew out of the cracks in the masonry, just like the ones they passed by. Like the main roads, the streets and alleys in the city are actually overgrown with grass.

This was not what shocked him the most - after dinner, the mayor here came to express his gratitude to Louis XIV because he generously gave bread and money to the people here as compensation for disturbing them, "If you want Thank me," said the king, "then bless the marriage of my son, the Duke of Colonna, to Princess Anna, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany."

"We will have a high mass and a procession throughout the city to thank you for your generosity and to wish your son and his bride a healthy heir as soon as possible."

The king smiled. This wedding was purely out of political needs. "I just wish them happiness and good health." He said: "I will also present twelve boxes of candles, a set of silverware, and other gifts to the Siena Cathedral. There’s some linen.”

"Please allow me to thank you on behalf of all Sienese, Your Majesty," the mayor said.

"Siena?" The crown prince was still drinking his milk slowly. Hearing this, he couldn't help but look at the mayor in horror: "This is Siena?"

A trace of shame and resentment flashed across the face of the mayor of Siena, but it was not towards them. "Yes," he said sadly, "This is Siena."

Siena, the crown prince, Little Louis, couldn't believe it at all. He looked out subconsciously and saw only darkness - Siena, which was once rich and prosperous, now has only a few sparse lights at night, and the whole city is silent. It's like dying. Because he had been in the carriage, the Crown Prince could not analyze the size of the city, but when he saw the bad road conditions, mottled walls, dull clothes, old furniture, curtains, and rusty metal accessories, he thought This is a little-known town.

"A city will decline very quickly." Louis XIV said at the side: "The larger the millstone, the greater the strength required to make it turn. Once it loses protection and nourishment, even Paris or Versailles will not be able to survive." It will become what you see now.”

"I'm sorry," the crown prince Louis said to the mayor, "I didn't expect such a change in Siena."

"It's nothing," the mayor said: "Even I, when I came back twenty years ago, I almost didn't recognize that this was my Siena."

"You are a man who is dedicated to his duties," Louis XIV said, taking out a gold Louis from his pocket and giving it to him. After the mayor resigned, the expression on the face of the crown prince Louis suddenly became complicated: "Tin Jena has become like this, Florence..."

"It's not the worst." Louis XIV comforted him, but little Louis was not comforted at all.

Fortunately, they had such mental preparations. When they arrived in Florence the next day, the Marquis of Lovas heard the Crown Prince let out a clear sigh of relief. He thought he would see a collapsed Florence like the ancient buildings near Rome. No, it is just as Louis XIV said, although the flowers wither and the pearls lose their color, they are still flowers and pearls. The humanistic thought, literature and art here once illuminated the entire Europe like a torch, and now it still has the afterglow.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany, his brother, son, and daughter greeted Louis XIV at the city gate. Although he had not very good ideas, Louis XIV, who had always been modest, would not embarrass his son's father-in-law. He took a few steps forward, took Cosimo III's arm, and walked forward with him.

Everyone smiled. The Florentines and the French, who were enemies nearly two hundred years ago, now love each other like friends. If anyone asks, they will say that the hatred between Florence and France dates back to It was over when Marie Medici became the Queen of France, and now they have welcomed two more perfect beauties - although the identity of the Duke of Colonna is still open to question, the stupidest Florentine also knows that he wants the French royal family to It is no longer possible to have one more Medici queen.

The Duke of Colonna took the arm of the crown prince Louis. If he had not passed through Siena, perhaps little Louis would not have noticed at all - the road had obviously been cleaned and scrubbed. Although the gaps could not be covered up, they It was cleverly filled with fine gravels. These stones were not filled in casually. Both the color and shape matched the surrounding stone bricks. It even looked like it was done intentionally. It is worthy of being the one that has trained and accepted countless painters. Medici and Florence with sculptors.

The walls here have also been decorated and painted, and the areas that cannot be covered are covered with silk carpets, curtains and flags. They also use lush flowers to cover some alleys. Maybe it is still a mess inside. Little Louis looked away and looked at He sighed in his heart, "What's wrong?" Duke Colonna asked.

"Nothing." Little Louis said that he had decided to spend part of his income on this wedding to thank the people who came to bless the newlyweds. The people in Florence were obviously not having it so well - although they saw that they were seeing both sides of the street Most people still wear silk coats, but the old and new silk has always been the easiest to see. In the courts of Versailles and Paris, under the guidance of noble ladies such as the Duchess of Montpensier, the material of the clothing and the time of wearing it, The crown prince, who was very familiar with the details such as whether it fit or not, immediately realized that this might be their last decent piece of clothing.

Three days later, they welcomed Pope Innocent XI with a group of red princes and more priests. The sight of red wide-brimmed hats and hooded cloaks rubbing against each other in the streets was already seen by Florentines. They had not seen it for hundreds of years. They were running around the room excitedly just to witness this grand scene. There were countless people kneeling on the ground praying for blessings - the Pope also made gestures to satisfy their wishes. desire.

Needless to say, the ceremony completed at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the banquet that followed went without saying. Not only the King of France, but also the Grand Duke of Tuscany became generous. Silver coins fell like hail on the crowd, as well as bread, beer and Potatoes - This is a food from France, and it can be eaten and drank as much as you like.

After people had eaten and drank enough, they began to dance and sing. They sang a euphemistic and touching love song, as if they were expressing their deep love for the newlyweds in the room.

The newcomers in the room really have no love at all. The Duke of Colonna is already eighteen years old, and the Dauphin Louis, who is one year younger than him, has already had his first love. He is no longer a child. This cannot be blamed on Louis XIV. The Duke of Colonna was looked after by Madame Miledy and Marie Mancini before and after he came of age. Although the two had very different backgrounds, one idea was quite consistent, that is, the love of the Duke of Colonna should not be allowed to come first. His career was frustrated, so in their arrangement, the Duke of Colonna naturally accepted a girl. They spent a good time and then said goodbye to each other after Colonna returned to Paris.

The Duke of Colonna's character has part of Louis and part of Mary, Mrs. Milady wrote in her letter, so he is a little sorry for the lost love, but he does not feel pain or regret, maybe because This question had an answer before he even wrote it - in short, the Duke of Colonna was already a real adult. In contrast, even after receiving several years of education in Paris, Princess Anna still maintained her original simplicity and innocence. .

The last step of the ceremony was for the newlyweds to have sex. The Duke of Colonna and County Anna completed this arduous task under the watchful eyes of witnesses. This is already quite rare in France, but it is still quite common in Italy. The witnesses were Innocent. XI, Louis XIV, Grand Duke of Tuscany and...Dauphin Louis the Younger.

Although having sex was just a false ceremony, Duke Colonna couldn't help but give him a roll of his eyes when he saw little Louis standing in the corner of the room winking at him, but he also knew that his father did this to give them These half-brothers are more related. After all, the witness has to sign the marriage contract and stand up to testify when someone questions the marriage.

Louis XIV is the current King of France, but little Louis will be in the future.

Unless Louis XIV becomes a member of the blood clan, otherwise, whether it is little Louis or Luciano, Duke of Colonna, the people who can help each other must be each other and not others. This is why once Mary Mancini The reason why Louis XIV must imprison her after saying that - in order to prevent the brothers Luciano and Louis from embarking on the path of brotherly hostility, the king will never allow any possible regrets or loopholes. .

It was said that they were witnessing the completion of the sexual intercourse ceremony, but the newlyweds just sat on the edge of the bed under the gaze of witnesses. After praying, it was considered successful. Princess Anna developed good work and rest habits in school in Paris. This She had already begun to rub her eyes, and the nanny and maids followed her back to the bedroom next door. The Duke of Colonna stayed in the room to prevent anyone from questioning the legality of the wedding because he appeared in public on the wedding night.

On the other hand, Louis XIV and the Grand Duke of Tuscany could appear in the hall together to receive people's congratulations. In the Pitti Palace, all they saw were smiling faces and all they heard were flattering words, and the guests also They were not as embarrassed as the common people they saw when they came to Florence. Their clothes were colorful, their jewelry was sparkling, and gold and silver coins were put in shell bowls and thrown to the crowd. Every time someone shouted "Viva Florence" , Long live the Medici and Long live France, or Long live the Sun King...

By the time the banquet was over, drunk people also appeared. The Pitti Palace, like the Louvre in the past, did not have any sanitary facilities, so some people vomited on the floor, and some were doing unsightly things behind the pillars. Regarding the matter of neglect - letting go of one's own desires, well, I mean, except for the part other than having sex, Louis stood up from behind the long table - considering that he is the person with the highest status here, he does not need to explain to anyone Then he could leave. After he left, the party continued until the early morning of the next day.

The next morning's sunshine had just cast its light on the gargoyles of Pitti Palace, and it was time for mass. The men and women who had been dissolute the night before put on their clothes, straightened their expressions, and walked into the dimly lit room with their foreheads in severe pain. In the procession, they listened to the sermon, received Holy Communion, and visited the Sacristy in the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is probably the most completely preserved place of Florence's glory, everything - ceiling paintings, frescoes, marble columns , floors, stained glass statues, gold and silver vessels, and countless holy objects all illustrate how glorious this city once was.

At least one-third of the utensils, textiles and relics that people see in the cathedral were donated by the Medici family - the reliquary also contains scrolls and rosaries left by two Medici popes. There are also precious souvenirs, as well as various rare things that Queen Mary sent back to the cathedral one after another - the frescoes and ceiling paintings were also completed by painters dedicated to the Medici family, and the repair and maintenance of Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral has also been ongoing. They were responsible, and their piety lit up Florence like the sun.