I Am Louis XIV

"This is somewhat Spanish." Louis XIV whispered.

"What?" Little Eugen asked doubtfully.

What Louis XIV means is that although the literature of chivalry sprouted in France, it is undeniable that it was Spain that carried it forward. People all laughed when they read the novel "Don Quixote" written by Cervantes, but if If you are careful, you can see that although Don Quixote is insane and behaves absurdly, all his actions are in accordance with the eight virtues of knights - humility, integrity, mercy, heroism, justice, sacrifice, honor, and soul (that is, piety) He has never strayed from this path and has always maintained a fearless spirit and firm belief in justice. He has never wavered in his loyalty to his wife and never wavered in the face of "powerful" enemies. Not even the slightest flinch.

In fact, in the second part, it is difficult to tell whether Don Quixote's enemies are the imaginary windmill giant, magician, and devil, or the bored pair. Take Don Quixote, who is still old even though he is about to grow old. Good people with warm and pure hearts come to play tricks on the Duke and Duchess and their accomplices to kill time.

Don Quixote was completed fifty years ago, but it can be seen that the author Cervantes did not regard chivalry as "backward" and should be "abandoned". On the contrary, in Spain, this gilded copper spirit When the lion is gradually fading its luster - just like the world he describes in the book, which no longer advocates the spirit of chivalry, every time he writes, he is shouting, praying that the Spaniards can be like the one in his book Like Don Quixote, he raised his spear again, mounted his horse, picked up their confidence and courage, and once again pushed Spain to the top of the world.

It is a pity that since fifty years ago, no, since Charles V, the Spanish nobles have been just like the Duke and Duchess in his book, frivolous, cowardly, addicted to the glory of the past and unable to extricate themselves. Not only are they willing to live in chaos They live their lives hoping that others will do the same, as if by not paying attention to the outside world, their world will remain the same forever.

That's a good thing for Bourbon, but not for Spain.

In order to study the Spaniards, Louis XIV of course read the somewhat rebellious "Don Quixote" carefully, so that when he heard little Eugen say this, he subconsciously thought that in the sixteenth century it was still very The prevailing "knightly love", this kind of love is embodied between the heroic young knight and the married lady he admires. They may not have an intimate relationship beyond kissing fingers in their lives (not recommended), and more often just kiss each other. Looking at each other, the noble lady will give the knight a wine glass, ring or intimate clothing. The knight will claim to fight for a certain noble lady in the tournament, and may also swear to protect the noble lady's husband, relatives, or even descendants, or do something Do something noble and keep your promise until death.

But this kind of behavior gradually changed its taste as time went by. The "noble love" between knights and noble ladies eventually turned into a despicable behavior of chasing bed. Now it is difficult to see a man doing this. Loving a woman so passionately and firmly, even in marriage, is full of the stench of money and the desire for power.

Little Eugen has a sincere love for the eldest princess, but he may be out of inferiority, perhaps out of self-restraint, or it may be because the eldest princess only has a sister-to-brother affection for little Eugen. It was not love, this feeling failed to blossom and bear fruit - but little Eugen did not let this feeling wither and rot in the darkness, but sublimated it into another more noble existence...

It is also more difficult and painful.

At this time, Louis XIV did not know that little Eugen had indeed fulfilled his vow with his whole life. After all, little Eugen was still a young man under twenty years old, and children who had not yet been contaminated by the filth of the world were always a bit disturbing. The innocent temperament that people pity. The princess is now the Crown Princess of Prussia. If little Eugen gets his permission, he will stay in Spain and guard Carlos III. Thousands of miles away, no matter how hot the emotions are, they will slowly fade and disappear. , when that time comes, he will instruct Queen Theresa or the Queen Mother to choose a suitable wife for little Eugen.

After all, he was also the child that Louis XIV watched grow up, and he was also a close relative of Marie Mancini.

"Let me think again," said Louis XIV: "I still hope you can return to Versailles."

"If you need me, you can call me back at any time." Little Eugen said, "I am your child, Your Majesty. To be honest, His Highness Charles is like my younger brother. I will guard him outside his bedroom. , spend every night with vigour."

Louis XIV understood what little Eugen meant. Even if Charles successfully ascended the throne in Toledo and the Spanish recognized Carlos III, opponents and radicals would never be absent. In the palace, court, and army, Louis XIV must split off part of his political and economic system to support his second son, and also to avoid following the footsteps of the Spanish-Habsburgs - the power of the nobles will be limited, and the decadent Laws and traditions will be abolished, and retired officials will be deposed... Louis XIV knew only what these people who had lost their original interests would do.

In the tradition of Europe, it is normal for a general who conquers a new territory to become a governor or an important agent. Firstly, it is because the people in the conquered land will inevitably be intimidated by his remaining power. Secondly, he At least he is more familiar with the new territory than others, so that he will not be fooled and deceived by the locals.

Just as the Thirteen Knights of Santiago complained, if little Eugen wanted to stay with Carlos III, they would have to face a colleague who had ever seen them in the most embarrassing and miserable state, and face a man who had been so thorough After defeating their enemies, it was difficult for anyone to shamelessly pretend that nothing had happened. In this way, whether they wanted to manipulate the young Carlos III or restrain French officials, they would be afraid.

Not to mention little Eugen, even the Duke of Luxembourg and Louis XIV wanted him to stay with Carlos III, but... no one thought that the old palace in Toledo or the new palace in Madrid could compare with Versailles. For example, the Duke of Luxembourg has always maintained a distant and indifferent relationship with Louis XIV because of the relationship with the Grand Condé. It is not surprising that he was sent to Madrid, but little Eugen-in this After the battle, no one will think of him as a child anymore.

When Louis XIV left little Eugen in Spain, some people must have thought that he was exiled by the French king.

Young Eugen misunderstood Louis XIV's silence. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "If you think it is necessary, I can also follow the example of Vicomte Turenne..."

"Stop talking nonsense." Those were two different things. Louis endured it and didn't say it. It would hurt the child too much.

The age of Viscount Turenne is actually quite unsuitable to become the governor of an important area such as North Holland, but Louis XIV, why did he insist on going there? Is this because Viscount Turenne is a descendant of the Orange family from the maternal line? Charles II of England used William III of the Orange family to recruit and coerce supporters of the Orange family. France Of course, Louis XIV could also use Viscount Turenne to divide and dismember them. Just as Louis XIV expected, even if someone in the Netherlands now calls on the Dutch to resist French rule in the name of William III, the last male heir of Orange, it has never been able to take shape because of the Viscount Turenne.

Viscount Turenne is the grandson of the Orange family, but his advantage is that he was once a disciple of Prince Maurice, a military genius respected by the Dutch. He served in the army for six years with his uncle and accepted his teachings. He was only nineteen years old. Back in France, and now in the Netherlands, there are actually many officers who remember the grandson of "Silent William" (the first Prince of Orange) and the nephew of Maurice.

Viscount Turenne was originally a gentle, kind, and polite man. In North Holland, he did not need to violate his conscience and cruelly rule the people of his mother's line. When he was in the three provinces of the French Netherlands, he never stopped. The pursuit and trial of anti-French rebels, but among civilians, his reputation is quite good, so good that people call him the Turenne of the Netherlands or the Orange of France.

Young Eugen said this intentionally, like Viscount Turenne, as the "illegitimate son of Leopold I", to appease and control the pro-Habsburg faction in Spain. With some naive and romantic meaning, Louis X Si couldn't even bear to tell him clearly that this was not feasible... The illegitimate children of Europa were born with heavier faults than ordinary people, especially if they intentionally interfered with the power of legitimate children - it is not that there are no outstanding illegitimate children. Talents, such as the Duke of Vendôme - he was able to be enemies with Louis XIII and Bishop Richelieu for many years, and finally escaped unscathed. Neither the title nor the territory was lost. It can be seen that he What a smart person he is, but such a person still wants his son to marry a commoner woman (the Mancini family is not a noble), just because she is a blood relative of Bishop Mazarin and the sister of the royal wife, and even more so. Only when his grandson, who has great hopes for him, enters the king's military academy, enters the army, and fights for the king can he pass on the power in his hands.

It's also like Duke Don Juan of Spain - by the way, he was besieged in Madrid and was still hesitating whether to surrender to Louis XIV - although he was captured in the Battle of Dunkirk, he was also an outstanding general. , a good lord, but no matter what, he still had to take off his hat and kneel in front of Carlos II, a deformed child and a madman, and pay allegiance to him and pay tribute to him.

Although he had ruled Spain as regent for many years, no one, not even himself, had ever thought of replacing him.

As for the illegitimate children of nobles, officials, and bishops, there are even more. Their current situation is even better. After all, both the government and the colonies need a lot of new blood. But a little further back, their situation was only worse than Servants and serfs are better off, and they will even become the latter after their biological father dies and their half-brother comes to power.

Today, although the number of illegitimate children being arranged to become government employees, priests or sergeants is much greater than before, they are still discriminated against at the political level, marriage level, and even in interpersonal relationships. Sometimes the discrimination is not bad. More often than not they are simply ignored.

It was also because little Eugen was raised under the name of Queen Theresa and was valued and loved by Louis XIV that he was not treated coldly by insiders. He had never experienced this kind of pain and did not know that once his true identity was exposed, Not only will it not be able to help like Viscount Turenne's Orange bloodline, it will instead put him in a miserable situation. His right to speak will not be enhanced, but only weakened - an illegitimate child... right? , even if Leopold I had no legitimate children, he would not have any rights at all, not to mention that Leopold I did not even recognize him at the legal level.

Fortunately, Louis XIV did not need to end things with him too clearly, and little Eugen was still willing to follow the advice or orders of the king and his "father".

"When we get to Toledo," said Louis XIV, "we will decide the matter."

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"Duke Don Juan of Madrid has decided to surrender." The priest handed a secret letter to the Archbishop of Toledo.

In fact, it is no longer important whether it is a secret letter or not. The large-scale resistance brought about by strong hostility due to faith and personal interests that the Archbishop of Toledo originally expected failed to make any waves. Perhaps it was because of the original domestic situation. There were conflicts between Protestants (Huguenots) and Catholics, which even triggered many civil wars. The French king was extremely vigilant about these issues from the beginning, and his generals did not make the mistake of stepping into the traps they set.

As for the lords and nobles who were stationed in one place - they saw the fate of the French, and of course they were unwilling to surrender, but the Spanish phalanx they relied on, even if it had 70, 80 or even 90% The ratio of arquebusiers is still unable to compete with the French who have truly developed a "hot weapons war" thinking and combat method.

There are many young people among the French generals, but they are not at all impetuous and reckless as young people should be. This is due to the teaching and drills they received in military schools - they are steady, echoing each other, and step by step. The land encroached on most of Castile, as well as the sea and ports from the Costa Blanca to the Orange Coast, and the cities, mountains and fields that spread out from Catalonia.

If Louis XIV's army is like flames, then the Archbishop of Toledo can probably see that the ancient sheepskin map of Spain has become scorched black everywhere, with only a few points, such as Toledo, still blank. of. ,