I Am Louis XIV

In fact, speaking of familiarity, Louis XIV was more familiar with Christian Huygens, because he visited Paris three times and was at home at the Royal Academy of Sciences for a long time. He had many conversations with scholars such as Descartes, Maury, and Pascal. He even got a doctorate in Angers. Of course, his French friends would try their best to persuade him to stay in Paris. Huygens was also tempted, but soon afterwards, King Louis XIV of France fell in love with Flanders. Baring its fangs, Holland followed.

Huygens believed that he could not serve such a tyrant in this way, so he pretended that he was suffering from illness and returned to The Hague. However, he did not expect that he and Spinoza would fall into the hands of the Sun King again, but it can be seen that, It was better than falling into the hands of Cosimo III. His complicated emotions almost overflowed from his eyes. Just as he was about to say something, a young man running from another place interrupted him.

"Sir!" The young man ran to them, looked at the group of people surrounding the cage with suspicious eyes, and lowered his voice - but maybe because he was too excited, everyone here could almost hear it. ——"Mr. Spinoza," he congratulated Spinoza sincerely: "Sir, the injustice done to you will be cleared soon. You are qualified to teach us. We We have persuaded the Grand Duke’s son Ferdinand, and he took your document to plead with the Grand Duke!”

Spinoza opened his mouth.

If I had to find an adjective, it would probably be the feeling that when he had to accept the devil's invitation after suffering in purgatory for many years, his disciple raised a fork and stuck him into the magma - this feeling It's really hard to describe. Even Louis XIV felt a little miserable. The student didn't get the response he deserved, and his expression slowly changed from excitement and joy to confusion, "...I said, you are interested in Fei, the Grand Duke's son. Dinan said, "Huygens took a few deep breaths before he could speak: "What you have received is not the education of an unknown mirror grinder, but the education of a... deviant scholar from Amsterdam. ……?"

"We don't think Mr. Spinoza's idea is wrong." The student said humbly: "He has opened a new door for us to observe the world."

"You also told His Highness Ferdinand... Spinoza's name?"

The student nodded. "Oh God," Huygens was completely speechless at this moment: "Oh God, oh God..." He shouted randomly: "What a stupid thing you have done!" He almost jumped on him. He grabbed the student by the collar, roared loudly, and asked him if he was planning to kill his teacher. But before he could act, Spinoza laughed, although his laughter was like sweeping with an iron broom. He passed the wall and sounded creepy: "My friend, my Christian," he laughed twice and then whispered: "Don't blame them, and don't plead to God. We all know that God does not He will not easily pay attention to the fate of a human being. What He can, knows, and knows is much greater than this. We are just a speck of dust, but He is the universe."

"Stop talking," Huygens shouted weakly.

"Did we do something wrong?" The student looked even more panicked than Spinoza. "We have even raised a ransom!"

"It's not about the ransom." Madam Milady interrupted, "When did you ask His Highness Ferdinand to go and plead with his father?"

"We persuaded Ferdinand at noon today," the student said: "He promised us that he was going to see his father to discuss something, and he could ask for his pardon by the way - he had read Spinoza He believed that he had considerable talents and knowledge, which could be compared with those of the Jesuit priests. He also promised us that even if he could not be released immediately, he could at least be imprisoned or imprisoned. Expulsion.”

Madame Milady looked at the sky. "We are so lucky, Your Majesty," she said. "If we had been a day late, all we would have seen was the body of Mr. Spinoza."

The student's face suddenly turned pale. He looked at Huygens, still not quite understanding what kind of stupid thing he had done.

"Let's leave here first." Louis XIV said: "As for...here, Mr. Huygens, please leave with us first, otherwise there will be an extra cage here."

"But……"

"You are a mathematician," the king said gently: "Mr. Huygens, then you should know that a certain 1 is always greater than another uncertain number."

"...You are right," Alexander said. He also had the spell cast by Mrs. Milady. He drank wine and ate candied fruits, and felt much better. "You'd better leave here first. As for us," he Shaking his head, "The worst thing is to go on the original path."

Louis nodded his cane: "That's not necessarily the case," he said, "I can assure you that things will never come to the worst."

The student looked at this stranger. His family was still qualified to enter the Pitti Palace and meet the Grand Duke and the King, so he did not know Louis XIV. However, this gentleman with outstanding demeanor and handsome appearance only said this sentence, because he brought The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed silently, as if he was a messenger of God, a saint, and what he said would inevitably become facts.

"It seems we have to go back early." Louis said.

He took the crown prince, Little Louis, and his attendants and servants, and left as grandly as when he came. But in the middle of the way, Madame Miledy left. Little Louis looked at his father: "Madam, she is going Have you made arrangements for the future?"

"That's right." Louis said, looking at the golden-red light shining on the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The pink and white marbles were like pieces of shimmering sand gold in the afterglow. No, not only this church, but also the Medi The wonderful Palazzo Vecchio - now the city hall, the Santa Trinita Bridge on the Arno River, the jewelry shops of the Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Palace, the Grand Square, as well as countless sculptures, ceiling paintings and fountains, these are all The Medici dedicated their lives to the city, and just as Louis XIV could claim that he rebuilt Paris, the Medici could claim that they rebuilt Florence.

But these achievements, if the Florentines are willing to admit it, have almost been squandered by the descendants of the Medici. Louis XIV had no intention of interfering with the rule of Cosimo III, or in other words, such a rule was just what he wanted. If Cosimo III was a wise and enlightened ruler, his huge plan for Italy would instead encounter the Duchy of Tuscany. It became difficult. After all, the Duke of Colonna was the son-in-law of Cosimo III, and Cosimo III also had two sons. He saw that neither Ferdinand nor the young Gian were weak. generation.

He still hopes that his son can get a happy marriage and be happy.

"What will Cosimo III do?" Little Louis was also looking out the window.

"If he was angry, he might indulge his malice and send people to execute all the people there immediately," Louis said.

"So Lady Milady..."

"Yes," said Louis XIV.

"But you are the Sun King, father, and they should obey your will."

Louis couldn't help laughing: "No, no, son, this is Florence, and I am not Louis XII. I will not hinder Cosimo III from exercising his power." He walked slowly, his cane on the road. A rhythmic sound was left on the bricks: "This is a very disrespectful behavior, and if I do it, someone will do it to me in the future - of course, maybe no one has the guts, but many Things, at least, cannot be started by me, or for such a trivial reason."

He paused: "There is only one exception."

"What?"

Louis XIV did not say it, but the young Louis the Dauphin already understood.

——————

This father and son get along very harmoniously and happily, but the other father and son do not.

Ferdinand was different from little Louis. Little Louis’ father, Louis XIV, and his mother, Princess Teresa of Spain, although there was not much love in their marriage, Louis was a very responsible person, and Theresa The queen was intelligent by nature, and had learned to be cautious and tolerant during the ten years she spent due to her awkward status. Therefore, as their first-born son, little Louis grew up in warmth, abundance and love, although this environment made his His temperament is a little too gentle, but like any pampered child, he has an open and bright heart.

Ferdinand was very different. Unfortunately, his mother was an ambitious, greedy and vicious woman. When they were newly married, Cosimo III did think about staying with her. After that, A long life, but how did she do it? She always felt that she was going to become a queen, so she condescended to marry a descendant of a businessman. The history of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was indeed not that long. The Medici family also made their fortune in commerce and banking, although they had two sons. The Pope and the two queens were still nouveau riche in the eyes of the French aristocracy.

But her marriage to Cosimo III was agreed upon in 1661. At that time, Louis XIV had been in power for three years. Gaston, Duke of Orleans, had reached the end of his political life. He was also seriously ill and old. He had no son. The territory and title are destined to be inherited by the royal brother Philip. In view of his indifference and harshness towards his eldest daughter, the Duchess of Montpensier, don't expect this sister to be as tender as her half-sister. Duke Gaston can say It was only after he used up his last connections that he finally sent his last daughter to Florence.

It is a pity that Princess Margaret did not understand her father's hard work at all. She was like a queen, even as high as a god. Her vengeful squandering and intensified blackmail made Cosimo III's love quickly go away. Moreover, she was miserable and did not love her children. She only regarded them as hard labor that she had to perform. Not long after Ferdinand was born, she was left to a wet nurse.

A wet nurse, even if she is dedicated enough, cannot be compared with a real mother. What is pitiful is that Cosimo III's mother was busy with government affairs at that time - the mother whom Cosimo III left behind was not as good to this grandson as his subsequent granddaughter. Concerned, because Cosimo III was frustrated in his marriage, he had already begun to devote himself to prayer and asceticism at this time, hoping to find solace in it, but he failed to think of his son.

The result was that Cosimo III did not think about his son until he was about to come of age, or in other words, when the Grand Duchess of King Louis XIV of France was about to choose a husband. There is no doubt that Ferdinand disappointed him, whether in studies or in studies. He is like a child in his thoughts, and the only thing worthy of praise is that his body is still healthy.

Because Ferdinand has been raised by wet nurses, the children around him are not the children of the big Florentine families and officials, but only the children of ordinary people - of course, this ordinary is many times more than the poor, and he is among them He has developed a frivolous temperament. He is less responsible and less religious than his father. He just likes to travel around and have fun.

His uncle had already told his father before that Ferdinand intended to study in Paris and Versailles - everyone knew that he was just going there for fun. Cosimo III never had this method, mainly because his daughter was in Paris. After attending school for several years, although it is comforting to say that she has become a talented and moral lady, it can also be seen that the influence of the French on her has exceeded the influence of the Italians on her.

Cosimo III could still tolerate his daughter's condition. After all, she was going to marry someone else, but his son, especially the eldest son, his heir - he was worried that Ferdinand would spend a few years in Paris and Versailed away from home. In the end, he would even regard himself as a Frenchman rather than an Italian. The Medici family has a shallow foundation. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany has been able to maintain its existence until now only because all the Grand Dukes of the past generations have smoothly dealt with the various countries and never asked for help. No one is loyal to any king or emperor, otherwise Tuscany, a small principality that even hires troops, would have long been the victim of the conflict between two strong men.

The reason for agreeing to the marriage between the Duke of Colonna and Anna was because the Duke of Colonna was nominally an Italian. If he was legally recognized by Louis XIV, Cosimo III would never agree to avoid attracting the attention of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold. The suspicion and anger of De I.

But if he really let Ferdinand go to Paris - could the Ferdinand who came back still stand between the two countries as skillfully and impartially as he did?

He looked at his son, who was almost taller than him, and was filled with worries. However, Ferdinand did not consider his father's painstaking efforts at all. He came to tell - yes, to tell his father that he would return to Paris with the French. Maybe he would study at the university there for a few years. He didn't seem to think of going any deeper. He was as relaxed as the son of a goldsmith rather than the son of a grand duke.

Ferdinand is not a vicious person, but when a child needs to establish a reliable ideological and moral system, he is surrounded by wet nurses, servants and the like, so you can't think of him as having any foresight - It stands to reason that when he was seven years old, he should have been assigned a teacher. However, due to Cosimo III's previous perverse behavior, almost all the famous scholars in Florence had left, and scholars in Italy or other places were unwilling to accept Tosca. Employed by the Archduke, a Jesuit monk came to serve him - but we all know that the harsh boarding system and corporal punishment system came from Jesuit schools, and this monk also pursued education with sticks and whips.

Of course, as the son of the Grand Duke, even if Ferdinand did not study well, he would be punished by his companion, but his companion was the wet nurse's child. To Ferdinand, this was his brother, and it was precisely because of Ferdinand that he was punished. Dinant's nature is not bad, how can he endure others punishing his brother at will (his idea)? The first time the Jesuit monk beat his chaperone, he jumped up, burned the stick, and in turn led a group of urchins to beat the teacher until he ran away.

Although the Grand Duke reprimanded him severely and said he would stop beating the teacher, he took his brothers and ran away as soon as the class started.

After that, the Archduke and his wife were involved in shameful scandals and disputes (Note 1), and no one cared about his studies anymore, so Ferdinand, like the sons of Italian princes before him, was accepted in the streets and in the courtyards. Education, he can grow into what he is now, instead of becoming a shameless thug and criminal. Cosimo III is lucky in his life. Cosimo III also once had the idea of ​​​​leaving it like this, which is not a bad idea, but Now he clearly felt that Ferdinand's affection for the French was a little too much.

What he did not tell Ferdinand was that he was interested in marrying the daughter of the Elector of Bavaria of the Holy Roman Empire. The Elector of Bavaria sided with Emperor Leopold I, so that he could also ease his relationship with Leopold I. At the same time, because Leopold I would never watch France invade Italy, he could also ensure that the Principality of Tuscany would not be annexed by Naples in the future.

Seeing that the portrait of the Elector's daughter was about to be sent to Florence, he should go to accept the audience as the heir and fiancé, but now he has to return to Paris with the French, although everyone knows the dirty politics. He knew it, but could he send an envoy and a portrait to Paris or Versailles and slap an emperor and a king in the face at the same time?

Ferdinand looked at his father's angry look, but he felt very happy. His entire childhood was carefree because of neglect. He was at the age of eleven or twelve, when he was the most active and rebellious. Cosimo The third generation began to treat him too harshly. If the former could continue to be harsh, he might be able to correct Ferdinand's twisted seedling. The problem was that Duke Gian was not yet born at that time, and the Medici family had the hereditary disease of gout. Cosimo III did not know when he would be called by God, so in this family war, it was still the archduke who showed signs of weakness first.

So Ferdinand was like a runaway wild horse, running completely on the road of wantonness and never looking back.

Note 1: In early 1672, Margaret Louise pretended to be ill, and Louis XIV sent Anne of Austria's personal physician Ariot Leveuw to treat Margaret Louise. But Ariot did not follow Margaret Louise's plan to return to France on the grounds of illness, and pretended to use hot water to improve her "illness". In December, Margaret Louise went to Villa Pratolino and never returned.