I Am Louis XIV

"You are no different," Lady Milady heard the king say this, and immediately said: "Your Highness, you may not know that your father is actually a person who is very sensitive to fashion and fashion, like Jasmine Pollen , rose rouge, perfume, your familiar screw curls, etc., the initiator was not the legendary Mrs. Mary Mancini, but your father."

Little Louis, the crown prince, immediately looked at his father with a surprised look on his face.

"I needed money very much at that time." There were tens of thousands of refugees brought back from the exile. The Louvre Museum, which was looted during the riots, needed to be repaired and cleaned up. The military pay of Viscount Schaumberg and Turenne needed to be issued as soon as possible. ...and the money to bribe servants and officials - yes, Louis was in such embarrassment at that time, but as people realized hundreds of years later, women and children are the best money to earn, and because men in this era Like women, they like to dress up, so Louis can double his profits in this area.

"But things were different then," Louis said. "I catered to them then, and now they cater to me."

"Yes, it's not just Paris or Versailles," Mrs. Miledy said: "Your Highness, it is human nature to pursue beauty. It can even defeat law and morality, or other evils of mankind. Beauty has only one enemy, That is power. Between power and beauty, people will only choose the former - sometimes, power and beauty can also be fused, or 'power' changes the definition of 'beauty'," she fiddled lazily with the hem of her skirt. , fans and jewelry around the neck, "You have been to many places, not only France, but also Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy. So have you noticed that the more prosperous a city is, the more its people will make it more popular? You feel familiar."

"Because they are all following the new fashion in Paris or Versailles." Louis added: "When you become powerful, people will follow you uncontrollably, and their eyes will follow you. Every time you say Every word you say is listened to. Every command you give is like an oracle given by an angel. They imitate your dress and your accent. Your eyes cannot see anything that makes you unhappy, and your ears And you won’t hear sounds that bother you…”

"Is this how you feel?"

"Every man with power can feel this way," Louis said: "I, Leopold I, Cosimo III, and Mohammed IV of Istanbul."

"Then what?" said little Louis: "Father, I feel scared. I remember a sentence, God whispers softly, and the earth thunders."

"The truth is," said Louis, "you will succeed me, son, and you will sit on a throne of unprecedented splendor, but I am often worried because you have never felt cold, hungry, or faceless. The threat of death - your heart may be gentle and compassionate, but if you don't know what the consequences of your words will be, you will be the most terrible tyrant."

"I understand, your majesty," said little Louis, "so you brought me to the battlefield and here too."

"Florence is a living example." Louis said: "You must always remember that in your lifetime, otherwise Paris and Versailles will be next."

"I have a question," little Louis couldn't help but ask: "Father, doesn't Cosimo III know what he is doing and what consequences his will will have?"

"This involves the issue of faith I mentioned before." Mrs. Milady said, she pointed in a direction: "Go there, my Majesty, and the little Highness, there is a small monastery, and the monks inside He is a drinker, and we can rest there.”

As Mrs. Miledy said this, a servant knocked on the door of the monastery with wine. A monk silently took the wine and let them in - the monastery was lifeless, and the pond was covered with green algae. On the water surface, the saint's statue is full of gaps and cracks - it is not deliberately damaged by anyone, it is purely caused by wind, rain, and sun. Small leaves and branches stretch out from the cracks, reaching towards the saint's face, as if to give this painful... The face brings some comfort.

This small monastery belongs to a Florentine family with an unfamiliar name - after Cosimo I finally became the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Florence finally transformed from a free country through the efforts of several generations of the Medici family. The city became the private property of the king. The families that used to have a say in the city either fled or died one after another. The monastery where they buried their families was slowly abandoned. In this monastery, they only saw A monk, and he had disappeared after opening the door for them, perhaps to get rid of the bottle of good wine.

They sat down in the hall, where there were still many benches left. Prince Louis also found a broken printed Bible. Maybe it was broken and the printed Bible was worthless, so it was thrown here. It was covered with mice. There are traces of bites. Between the wall pillars, the niches that should contain statues or sacred objects are empty. There are no stained glass paintings. The lampstand on the ceiling has also disappeared, making people wonder if the monks here have already disappeared. Sold them all.

"Cosimo III was not a pious man when he was young." Mrs. Miledy continued: "He likes drinking, dancing, hunting and hanging out with women as much as any young Italian, but he became here After becoming the ruler, he briefly took charge of government affairs for a period of time. Maybe he really wanted to make some achievements, but the heavy work soon knocked him down. How quickly he moved from the hands of his mother to his mother. After taking over the power, he gave it back as quickly as possible - and what happened next, as you know, was that his mother and ministers chose a marriage for him, that is, the daughter of the Duke of Gaston," she said in She cleverly did not mention Gaston's former title of Duke of Orleans, nor did she refer to the woman as the granddaughter of Henry IV like others, because she knew very well that Louis did not like the ambitious Gaston very much. There may be a layer of revenge for killing his father, and the curse of Duke Gaston before his death is known to the world. "He does not love this woman," said Madame Milady, "but the princess also happens not to love her." like him."

"That's too polite to say," Louis said mercilessly. Considering that Gaston murdered him and Louis XIII several times, he had no feelings for this uncle: "In fact, this lady always thought that she could get a For the title of princess, she also expected to be crowned as a queen, not as the wife of a grand duke. Her father spent a lot of favors and interests seeking this marriage for her, but she always believed that this marriage was for her. Humiliation." These were also said when she returned to France and lived a monastic life in a monastery while complaining about Louis XIV's harsh treatment of her.

"Cosimo III gave her a lot of valuable gifts when he got married," Mrs. Milady said. "I think he might have had some illusions at first, but he soon found that he married An ignorant shrew must still be married to her and have children.”

"Here I want to thank Gaston's daughter for her stupidity," Louis turned his cane: "Otherwise Cosimo III would not have decided so quickly on the marriage of your brother, the Duke of Colonna, and his eldest daughter."

The marriage between the Duke of Colonna and the daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany maintains a wonderful balance. I mean, on the surface, the Duke of Colonna is an empty lord with only a title and no territory, but Princess Anna is She is the daughter of a grand duke who owns a large territory. Princess Anna's husband is most likely to be married to a powerful earl or duke of the Holy Roman Empire. People would say that the Duke of Colonna is a lucky man if he can get such a wife.

But on the other hand, what everyone knows well but can never say is that the Duke of Colonna is the illegitimate son of King Louis XIV of France, and the first-born son of this king, although Louis XIV is legally unable to Admit him, but judging from Louis XIV's behavior, he valued this first-born son very much. Not only did he try every means to obtain an orthodox origin for him, but he also gave him a territory (Gajola), and even intended to raise funds for him. Take Naples.

Although Princess Anna was a legitimate daughter, her father Cosimo III was not a man who was good at strategy or courageous. He did not even dare to expel or imprison his wife who had already lost power. He only dared to ask Louis XIV for help. He also regarded the exile of Margaret Louise de Orleans as an important clause in the marriage negotiations, and begged Louis XIV not to accuse him as the cousin of Orleans.

Marriage in this era is so mmp.

After losing his yearning for love and marriage, Cosimo III, like most people, turned to religion to seek comfort. His mother was also a devout believer. The influence he received when he was a child was revived when he suffered setbacks. Revealing his identity, he began to become fanatical, but as Mrs. Milady said, when an ordinary person falls into madness because of his beliefs, only he and the people around him will be harmed. One or two small families may be less, but If a king or a ruler does this, it will be a disaster.

"You think the streets are very empty," said Mrs. Milady. "If you come quietly and don't tell anyone who you are, you will find that Florence is still very lively. Seven days ago, there were still many people here. As for the beggars, homeless people and monks, they were all driven away just to receive you. By the way, the six execution platforms are not that clean either."

"Six seats? We only saw five."

"There is another execution platform in the Place de la République," said Madame Milady, "but there may be some prisoners there." She glanced at the Dauphin, little Louis.

"We haven't left the battlefield very long," Louis said. "He has already seen two hundred people impaled."

"This course is a bit cruel." Mrs. Milady said, "But in this case, we can go there and have a look."

This execution platform may be the largest one. There are many standing cages placed around it, and none of them is empty. What surprised the French is that there are actually women inside, because they are dressed luxuriously and speak French. The guards did not dare to step forward, but they made threatening movements when they wanted to get closer. Mrs. Milady's entourage skillfully stepped forward and took out a money bag. The guard looked at them in confusion. After a moment, he shook his head. Shaking his head, struck by the weight of the money bag, he made gestures and spoke in French that probably no one could understand - and then changed to another language and still no one understood, but they also understood, they could see Look, but you are not allowed to release or attack the people in the cage.

The people standing in the cage looked hungry and thirsty. Some of them were not dressed like a poor criminal, and some were in rags. Their necks were stuck between the wooden bars at the top of the cage, although they could They were standing, but unable to sit down or lie down. Their eyes were red, swollen and trembling, and their mouths were dry and cracked. Occasionally, they could be heard praying, crying, or mumbling to themselves.

With the permission of the guards, they approached the cages. Little Louis looked at them with a look of unbearability. When he was born, Louis XIV had abolished most of the torture, and he had never been to the Bastille. Fortunately, he had been impaled in Camney before and had some resistance to this kind of horror, so he did not pray to his father or Mrs. Miledy to at least free these people from the cage first.

He first asked the attendants to give these people some light wine, and then walked up to the old man who looked the least likely to be a criminal - he was wearing a long brown coat, flat heels, and the unstained areas of his shirt were still white. For one thing, he might not have been locked up for too long, and he still had some energy to talk to this strange boy.

"What crime did you commit to be locked up here?" asked little Louis.

"I am a professor, kind sir," said the old man, "I have been teaching students for twenty years, but our Grand Duke Cosimo III suddenly issued a decree that no one in the Duchy of Tuscany was allowed to "The young man was educated outside the Jesuit schools." He paused, and little Louis fed him a little wine himself, and he sighed: "Thank you, thank you, sir - you remind me of what I love One of the students, okay, I went on to say, sir, they closed my school, and I continued to teach students who were willing to study with me in my house, but someone snitched on it, and I was arrested. I can’t leave this prison until I repent.”

"Then why don't you repent?" asked little Louis in a low voice.

"I consider myself without sin, sir," said the old man. "Not even God has a monopoly on knowledge."

"But you'll die."

"Education is all my interest and meaning, sir. Maybe if you give me some more wine, I can get a pardon from the Grand Duke."

Little Louis heard someone chuckle around him. It was obvious that the people standing in the cage, as long as they could still think, did not think that the Grand Council of Tuscany would pardon them.

"You don't look like an Italian." Louis XIV, who had been watching for a while, stepped forward and said.

The old man looked at the stranger through the slits in his eyes. He saw the kind-hearted child running to him with an expression of respect and admiration. He guessed that they were not only father and son, but also uncle and nephew, and they had a very good relationship. Finally, his eyes fell on On the big cross on the chest of Louis XIV: "I am a Jew." This is also the reason why he will not be pardoned, and the people in the square are almost all Jews. Cosimo III hated the Jews, so he Like all devout Catholics, they were regarded as filthy. If they committed a crime, a Christian could obtain absolution, or redeem his freedom or life with property, but they could not.

"You have a pair of sharp eyes like an eagle. Sir, you make me feel familiar. I must have seen you before." The old man paused slightly: "Ah, no, I have seen your portrait -" he spat out slightly. A few words: "The Sun King of France, Louis XIV."

Lady Milady and several other attendants immediately stepped forward warily and surrounded the king. Louis just waved his hand.

Louis nodded lightly, "It seems that you are also one of the refugees in the Netherlands," he said, "My portrait? Is it the kind to be hung on the wall to curse?"

"No," the old man said, "I don't mean to be a compliment, Your Majesty," he breathed, "You are a powerful and vicious enemy, but it was the Dutch who destroyed Holland, not you."

"There are also respectable people among the Dutch, such as your General Leut and even Prime Minister Witte."

"There is no doubt about the former, and the merits of the latter outweigh the faults, but the Dutch are just like the Athenians (Note 1), and their vote ultimately destroyed the Netherlands."

"Are you a philosopher?" Louis asked curiously.

"Yes," the person who answered this sentence was none other than a middle-aged man who had chuckled before and was caged next to the old man. He waved his fingers desperately to attract the king's attention - he heard the old man say The identity of the other party was revealed, and the man did not deny it - no one dared to do this in an era when pretending to be a king would be punished by being quartered on five horses, and he also heard before being arrested that Louis XIV came to Florence.

"He is Baruch Spinoza!" the man shouted, "He is Spinoza, sir, your majesty, take him away, your majesty," he did not dare to shout loudly, and could not shout loudly. , but he has definitely worked hard, and veins are showing on his forehead - "He will die if he stays here! Show mercy, I swear he is the most valuable scholar I have ever seen!"

Louis XIV's eyes returned to the old man: "Are you not in Amsterdam?" Fortunately, he listened to Descartes' recommendation and went to Amsterdam to find him.

"I am a man without a country," said Spinoza. "Your Majesty, as long as I am allowed to write books and teach, I will have my home anywhere."

"My general has been looking for you for three months." Louis XIV said helplessly. This was really unexpected.

"The problem is that you are asking the general to find Spinoza..." the middle-aged man on the side muttered - as a Jewish man with unique religious ideas, being searched everywhere by a general of the French King, he would only I thought it was a manhunt.

Note 1: What is said here is that the Athenians voted to kill Socrates. The death of Socrates is a tragedy, and it is also a tragedy for the democratic politics of the city-state of Athens. Socrates was prosecuted by three Athenian citizens. They accused Socrates in court of neglecting the gods and beguiling young people in accordance with the law. The jury that tried Socrates was composed of 500 Athenian citizens. In the first round of voting, Socrates was found guilty by 280 votes to 220 votes.

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