I Am Louis XIV

At this point, everyone, we can break away from Gian Medici’s diary for the time being and look at detailed historical materials, because in what later generations will call the “last battle before the unification of Italy”, all aspects of All have detailed records.

In fact, it is not so conclusive to say that it was the last battle, because the subsequent "Battle of Turin" in the Spanish Succession War was started and completed in the Principality of Milan area at the northern end of Italy. The war of Catholics is obviously different from the war of fellow Catholics.

Well, let us put aside the Battle of Turin that has not yet come and focus our attention on Sicily.

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Sicily is the largest island in the Commonwealth of Italy. On the lower right is the island of Malta, which made the Ottoman Turkish sultans resentful. This island is still occupied by the glorious Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, perhaps because of the previous attack on Malta. Experience - After repeated setbacks, this time Mohammed IV did not stubbornly choose Rhodes as a breakthrough point like Suleiman the Magnificent did, but directly captured the neighboring island of Sicily.

Sicily is as beautiful as many islands in the Mediterranean, and it is vast and richer than any other island - it once belonged to the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, and then the Spaniards .

If it is also one of the legacies of Carlos II, then why is it owned by the Duke of Savoy? This is thanks to Leopold I of Habsburg, who generously gave the Spanish island of Sicily to Savoy in order to win over Savoy, a key ally (Savoy was between Italy and France). Duke of I, and canonized the Duke of Savoy as King of Sicily.

This kind of move is undoubtedly quite disgusting. As the owner of the Principality of Savoy, the Duke of Savoy certainly accepted this gift happily-the Principality of Savoy is small in size, has no outlet to the sea, and is sandwiched between other countries. In the meantime, he is like an adult in a wooden box, who has long been looking forward to the day when he can stretch his limbs. Leopold I allowed him to become king again - look at how many sacrifices the former Grand Duke of Brandenburg made to promote the principality to a kingdom, and you will know how difficult it was to get Leopold I to nod.

The Duke of Savoy was favored by Leopold I and should have sided with him - but under the persuasion of his cousin, the Count of Soissons, he still favored the French King Louis XIV. Of course, It was not that he felt that Louis XIV was more approachable, but that to the Habsburgs, Sicily was an enclave beyond their reach. On the contrary, France and the soon-to-be-unified Italy held the island like pliers.

So far, Leopold I and his allies have still not been able to fight Louis XIV head-on. It seems that the two kings have no objections to each other, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is obvious that Louis XIV is constantly consolidating foundation, but Leopold I was... hesitating. At this time, a king's avoidance can be regarded as cowardice and fear - not to mention Leopold I's clever plan against Louis XIV The conspiracy seemed to have never succeeded.

Now it seems that Louis XIV's chances of winning are quite high. The Duke of Savoy has obtained the recognition of the King of Sicily from the Sun King. This means that even if the Italian Commonwealth Kingdom is unified in the future, Sicily will be in the possession of the Duke of Savoy. Things are not within the scope of being ruled.

When Louis XIV assisted his eldest son in implementing his plan for Sicily, the Ambassador of Savoy had almost no chance to intervene. After a few times, he himself gave up - after all, Savoy had not owned the island for a long time. What's more, despite being ruled by so many outsiders, the real owners of this island, the Sicilians, still retain a temperament as hot and strong as the sunshine here.

To put it simply, they hardly welcome any outsiders, because both the Arabs and the Spaniards have left them with deep scars.

Under the oppression of repeated powerful external forces, the Sicilians have become a close-knit group from small to large, consisting of families, clans and villages, or cities, or even islands. They are full of fervent love and deep attachment to Sicily. They value family and tenaciously maintain religious rituals that are unique to Sicily. They only believe in "family members" and exclude outsiders. They may also fight with each other, but when facing outsiders, Sicilians are absolutely united.

Much earlier, Louis XIV's "little birds" had set foot on this land. When other kings and dukes were indifferent to the common people, the "little birds" flew out of the shadows caused by the sun. "They already have a deep understanding of this exclusive land. They may not be able to become Sicilians' family members, but Sicilians are not ignorant beasts - they will still have friends and allies.

French merchants bought important supplies such as wheat, olive oil, citrus, lemons and sulfur from Sicily, bringing linen, cotton and woolen cloth, as well as glassware, gold and silverware, etc. Frequent transactions have made the French Several credible lines have been reached with the Sicilians. When others thought that Louis XIV would also be troubled by the unruly Sicilians, his envoy had already reached an agreement with the Sicilians - in the reign of Mohammed IV When the fleet was still sailing in the Mediterranean.

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There are two famous cities in Sicily, one in the north and one in the south, the capital Palermo and Siracusa facing the Mediterranean Sea.

It goes without saying how important Palermo is, in this city, because the Norman Palace is here - a complex of nine main buildings that combines the three styles of Arabs, Normans and Byzantines. , sturdy and majestic, with extraordinary significance, it was chosen as a palace by Mohammed IV.

Mohammed IV and the Ottomans rightly regarded this behavior as an honor second only to God's blessing, but to the Sicilians, this behavior was simply like spitting on their mother's grave. It's so abominable and hateful. Because of the Ottomans' persistence in faith and demanding 'purity', as soon as they entered this city, the first thing they did was to tear down all the crosses, paint over the church murals, move them and destroy them. Statues, and even the chapel in the Norman palace are no exception. No, it should be said that as the place where the Sultan resides, this place has been "cleaned" most thoroughly.

When Alberto Palermo walked in the palace, he could hardly recognize that this was a place he was familiar with.

As the name implies, it has special significance in this era - for example, Palermo. The name of this city is also the name of the family of Palermo, the city's former ruler. As a member of it, Palermo seems to love himself. He loved this palace like his family, and now that he saw it being tortured like this, he felt extremely painful in his heart, but he still hid his boiling emotions very well. Of course, there were also the "little birds" who had been indebted to Louis XIV. The warning was issued because some precious holy objects were hidden before the Ottomans came here.

The palace is now filled with the Sultan's personal guards, also known as the soldiers of the Yenicherry Regiment. They wear tall hats, colorful open-breasted coats, and wide gold silk belts. , with scimitars stuck in their belts, and muskets and daggers hanging from their belts. When they saw Alberto, they smiled. This smile did not have much kindness in it - as we all know, the soldiers of the Jenichery Legion are all "blood tax" ", that is, they were forcibly selected from the teenagers recruited from the vassal countries and regions of Ottoman Turkey - the pain of being far away from home and relatives, as well as the strict military regulations and heavy training were nothing. What they feared the most was nothing. However, some of the "lucky ones" selected by the eunuch leaders because of their beautiful appearance and fair skin will be deprived of their rights as men - in the sultan's harem, they are divided into black eunuchs and white eunuchs. According to outside rumors, the two No one would suffer such brutal torture... Unfortunately, this is just a rumor.

White eunuchs did not enter the harem, they served the sultan, but sometimes, yange was not to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline, but also to maintain the youthful beauty of the young people favored by the sultan for a long time.

Alberto is only eleven years old this year, and he is still three years away from adulthood. It is the time when young people in Italy are the cutest. Mohammed IV took a fancy to him at a glance, who came to see him with his father and brother, and ordered him to stay. He worked as a retainer by his side, and because he was on the battlefield, he would not fall into hell immediately, but Mohammed IV said that he would be taken to Istanbul, where there--"Good craftsmanship" "People"...I won't say how horrified this sentence made Alberto and his family stand on end. Anyway, the Sultan and the people around him thought this was a good thing that would make the people of Palermo grateful.

Ignoring the Jenichery soldiers, Alberto ran up the stairs holding a silver plate big enough to hold one of him. The silver plate was filled with fresh grapes, olives and sweet snacks. The leader of the eunuchs asked him to send it to the Sultan. When the Sultan was fighting, there were no concubines accompanying him, and there were many fewer rules and taboos. After being inspected several times, Alberto finally saw the familiar dark purple curtain.

The largest and most spacious room in this palace was originally a chapel for the Norman kings. After the Ottomans came, they converted this chapel into the sultan's bedroom. It has a large terrace and is constantly blown by the wind. The translucent gauze was blown into the air. The mural on the top was originally a geometric pattern, so luckily it was not altered. The large semicircular top covered the entire room, making the entire room look very empty.

The Sultan's bed is reminiscent of a flat high platform. It is close to the wall and faces the window. Gold and silver woven bed curtains hang from above to both sides. Soft velvet pillows and bronze pillows are everywhere on the bed and corners. A fragrant aroma rises from the stove - broken hookah rods, broken glass bottles, torn coats and curled books, indicating that this place has just suffered an angry hurricane, and Mohammed IV has now calmed down. Now, the eunuchs and attendants around him are busy restoring the room to its original cleanliness and splendor.

However, perhaps because the Grand Imam was by his side, the original Grand Imam unfortunately returned to the feet of their master during the great battle. The current Grand Imam is still an old man with a solemn face and an indifferent expression. He respectfully addressed the Sultan. He resigned and left the room without looking at Alberto during the whole process. To him, except for the Sultan, everyone here was probably similar to a piece of furniture that could talk and move around.

By the time Alberto placed the silver plate on the smooth and delicate silk carpet, Mohammed IV's anger had almost dissipated. He looked out the window, still not thinking that he would fail. He got it so easily. Sicily, this made the Sultan, who was heading a personal expedition for the first time, further inflated. The news from Istanbul certainly made him angry, but not much afraid. The Ottoman Turkey has not suffered a major defeat so far. Although in the conference They lost many soldiers during the battle, but throughout history, even Suleiman I suffered more than one defeat.

"I want to go back to Istanbul," Mohammed IV said. As soon as the rebels saw his flag, they would immediately fall apart, scream in fear and run away. It may take far longer to execute the original generals and ministers. In addition, arranging new trustworthy people to guard Istanbul for him is also a troublesome matter - but it is nothing, he said in his heart, "Go back and tell your family," he said kindly to Alberto: " Son, tell them you are coming back to Istanbul with me."

"You can take away all my rewards and leave them to whoever you want or to yourself." He raised his hand and said generously: "It doesn't matter if you keep them all, I will give you more."

Alberto thanked him sincerely as Mohammed IV expected. He valued the opportunity to return home more than the gold, silver and jewels the Sultan had given him.

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As soon as Alberto's mother heard the news, she immediately jumped up. With a look of fear on her face, she hugged Alberto tightly in her arms. Alberto was her youngest son, although there were three other sons above him. But the one she loved most was Alberto. "Holy Mother, Holy Mother," she shouted, "I will never allow you to go back to that devil!"

Alberto's father couldn't help but frown. Palermo is such an ancient and noble family. Even after dynasties and monarchs, the city of Palermo has never changed its name, but the dignity and tradition of Sicilian people are still in the Ottoman Turkey. It is not worth mentioning in front of the army of people. The Sultan asked Alberto to come back and inform him, which can be regarded as a favor to Alberto - to Alberto, not to Palermo. From this point, it can be seen that Palermo The Mo family was worthless to the Sultan.

"Let us kill that man!" said Alberto's eldest brother. "Let us gather the soldiers and show the infidels the blood of the Sicilians."

"How many people can you summon?" Alberto broke away from his mother's arms and said calmly: "There are three hundred people outside the door now."

Partly out of surveillance and partly out of favor, the Sultan had thirty Janissary guards and three hundred Azap infantry escort Alberto home, and then... Palermo had hundreds of times that number of soldiers. , as well as artillery, musketeers and elephants.

"Oh! We would rather die than suffer such humiliation." said Alberto's second brother.

"We should not have listened to the French rhetoric and lived cowardly instead of dying bravely." Alberto's youngest brother roared in the same way.

Long live the founding of the Party!