I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 128 The Temptation of Nations

Louis' love for Marie was long gone, but little Luciano couldn't help disliking him. Although he was too young to be wise, he was responsive and strong, and when one of the king's fingers was held by him , he had to use force to pull it out. Unlike his father at this time, he was always willing to hold his son on his lap and even change his clothes and feed him, which made Mary have an illusion that the king was because she was this The mother of the child treated little Luciano so leniently, and the squires of the Mancini family and the king all agreed not to remind her, so let her spend the next days with such a wonderful fantasy, at least for now. , Little Luciano needs such a mother.

Calais is a harbour city, in addition to lace and tulle, it is also a famous tourist and holiday destination. The best place here is gray sand and white sand. The scenery of white sand is undoubtedly better than that of gray sand. , but the king always preferred to linger on the grey sand, and Marie could not see why, but the officers accompanying the king knew that Calais was less than ten miles from the nearest port in England, and when the weather was fine, They were even able to see England directly from here.

"How close," the king always murmured to himself, and when Dunkirk had fallen into the hands of France, it was not surprising that he was so eager to move. Ambition suddenly died down. Louis is not a fool. Of course, he knows that the French navy is almost completely paralyzed. Compared with the army, the funds needed by the navy are like the sea in front of you. Before the New World, the people of Europa were more concerned about the size of their territories, and did not care much about the ocean. France was one step behind Spain, Britain and even the Netherlands, and now it is almost impossible to see any trace of the former.

Louis probably calculated that to rebuild the navy, it may take more than ten Paris to fill in. France used to be the top of the countries, but the civil strife consumed most of its vitality. Now it is like a patient who is recovering from a serious illness. The decision might speed it up to recovery, or it might fall down and never get up again—a line of dragoons was leaving Paris while the King gazed at England separated by a cobalt blue sea, and the Queen Mother got it. The news from Sweden, the news did not surprise the Queen Mother, in fact, it was surprising that it came so late.

As we all know, Europa has many kings, and the battle between them - whether on the table or on the battlefield has never stopped, France has experienced two prime ministers in power, Louis XIII although a good father Reconcile the monarch, but also say that his temperament is soft to the point of weakness, and he does not have much blood and responsibility in his body. He entrusts the affairs of government to Bishop Richelieu and his mother, and he indulges in hunting and gambling. Among them, this situation continued to change until the birth of Louis XIV, and then the Bishop of Mazarin, who was in charge of government affairs was understandable, after all, Louis was only a child at that time.

But this kind of behavior that the king must rely on his ministers and rely on his ministers to rule the country is not friendly to the king and his country. After all, whether it is Richelieu or Mazarin, even if they are powerful in France, they are not friendly to other countries. They were not kings after all. Although the envoys of various countries complimented them in their mouths, they did not know how many disgusting rumors they choreographed in private, just like the Queen Mother Anne and Mazaran. The bishop can even be called an enemy, and only cooperates for the sake of the king, but it is also rumored that they have an affair.

The situation was not much better even after Louis officially came to power, the king was too young, and he was known to have a gentle temper, and he had not signed the death sentence with blood on the tip of his pen - even Nicholas Fouquet's arrogance didn't quite irritate him either, some were happy to see the king's composure, while others thought the king was weak - the previous royal lady was a trick of the aristocracy, who apparently thought that , A beautiful and affectionate girl can seduce the king, take his love from the queen, and then share the authority of His Majesty, and even be allowed to interfere in the affairs of the state, and even manage the whole country. The unexpected choice of an English woman leaves their ideas in vain.

While the king spent time with Marie and their children in the pavilion, a small building wrapped in grapes and roses, Madame Lavalier was the king's lover in the Château de Boulogne. Accepting people's compliments, she is used to these nobles sizing and evaluating her indifferently - she is a werewolf, even if she is not a wolf, her hearing is far better than everyone here, so they think she can't hear She could hear what she said. Under the cover of the fan, Madame Lavalier smiled faintly. They were saying that she was thick-boned, like a peasant woman; ; and that she acted like a man in a wide range - which did not harm Madame Lavalier, for she had heard it before when she was Princess Henrietta's handmaiden.

When she became a maid, people said this because they were jealous that an officer's daughter could also become a female officer, and now she is jealous that she could become the king's lover, a royal lady recognized by the royal family. Lavalier knows this well. Ming, of course, she will not be shaken. Compared with the king's love, she certainly cares more about the forest promised by the king, that is, Wansen, where there is a prison used for detaining important prisoners, and her clansmen are arranged there. There, they can not only run in the forest as giant wolves, but also get a stable income by serving as the king's jailer, and also have a stable place to stay, which are what the werewolf tribe needs most.

Occasionally, when she was walking on the city wall, or turning into a wolf in the bright moonlight, or running on the waves, she would involuntarily look in the direction of the king and the Miss Mancini, and sometimes she even had an illusion, Can smell the king's body - the king only sprays perfume when he meets ministers and balls, usually only clean water vapor on his body, and occasionally a light soapy smell, although the smell is thin, it makes Lavalier. Mrs. Er instantly recognized the king from the crowd.

This strange feeling made her feel confused, but before she could fully analyze it, the messenger, who was protected by a team of dragoons, arrived in Calais. He sent a letter, which the Queen Mother wrote to Louis from Paris, There is also an original letter from the French ambassador to England, Count de Strad.

Specifically, it was a letter full of accusations - the cause of which was a trifle, or rather, in the eyes of the politically insensitive - in front of the Swedish embassy in London, the French ambassador and the Spanish The ambassador, the Baron Waterville, left the embassy at exactly the same time, and they had an argument about who should go out the door first, and there is no doubt that the French ambassador thought he should be ahead of everyone, and the Spanish ambassador did the same I think it's funny that the Spanish ambassador was richer than the French one - his valet first sneaked through the other little door, went to the pub and recruited a group of British gangsters who rushed up and hacked to death The horses in the French ambassador's carriage wounded and drove away the French ambassador's attendants, and then greeted the Spanish ambassador out of the embassy's gate just like welcoming the king.

It is said that, compared with the embarrassment of the French ambassador, the Spanish ambassador is like a hero who has returned triumphantly, surrounded by attendants in fresh clothes and angry horses, and passed by the cheers of those who were hired. an entire street.

   Is this really just a small thing? The king does not think so. He has been in power for less than a year. Whether at home or abroad, the most familiar one is the deceased Cardinal Mazarin, the Prime Minister of France and not Louis XIV. It is like those nobles who think a A beautiful woman can manipulate the king, the ministers headed by Fouquet think they can become the next Mazarin, and those kings are also looking forward to getting a windfall from the young king - Charles II did so As a result, Dunkirk became Louis XIV's bag directly, but this incident will only make people laugh at the uselessness of Charles II. For this king who has not really shown his fangs, people always Still holding some unrealistic stupid ideas.

This incident was a test by Spain for France, perhaps because Philip IV thought that Princess Teresa, now the Queen of France, had given birth to a healthy heir to the king (and he should have heard of the king Great respect) to want Louis XIV to bow his head to his father-in-law, it is also possible that he heard about Dunkirk - of course now France and England will not have a good relationship, after all Dunkirk is the throat of France, It is also a dagger in the face of the United Kingdom. It was sold at such a low price. Both the British Parliament and Charles II should be dissatisfied. This is not the best time for Spain to surpass France.

Therefore, in this seemingly small incident, more than four countries may be involved at the same time, Spain needless to say, the United Kingdom is of course for Dunkirk, as for Sweden - the former Swedish Queen Christina is still under the protection of the French king Below, although she cannot become the Queen of Naples because of her recklessness, as long as she is still there, she is a threat to her cousin, the King of Sweden and his descendants.

When the messenger saw the king, the king was in front of a huge tapestry describing an anecdote from the Battle of Crecy - when England and France went to war at Calais and Calais was besieged for a year. For a long time, he had to surrender in 1346. In order to beg the British not to massacre the citizens of the city, six brave people volunteered as hostages and walked into the British army camp - this scene was recorded by the painter, and then made into tapestry.. The picture is not as vivid and beautiful as the current tapestry, the portrait is rigid, and the eyes are dull, but when you think of what happened after this tapestry, people can't help but feel respect.

Speaking of which, Calais is also a place to be boasted about by the French. It has been taken three times and taken back three times, most recently from Spain, in 1598, less than fifty years from now. year.

  The king's order was soon sent back from Calais to Paris, and from Paris to England, Spain and Sweden.

Of course, what is well known is the series of measures taken by France against Spain. Louis XIV first recalled the French ambassador in Madrid, and at the same time ordered the expulsion of the Spanish ambassador in Paris, interrupting those still in Flanders. Negotiations on the border between France and Spain, and sent envoys to inform King Philip IV of Spain in person that if he did not want to recognize the superiority of the French crown, and if he did not formally apologize to the French king in accordance with etiquette, the Spanish ambassador The previous absurdity and presumptuous behavior atonement for the sin, then France will not be shy to start a new war with Spain.

Louis XIV said this, and did so at the same time. In addition to recalling the French ambassador and expelling the Spanish ambassador, the Prince Condé, who had rested for a while, was re-appointed as the commander of the army, leading an army of 50,000 people to the undetermined. The border moved, and it became clear that in the event of a war, the Spanish king would either be forced to cede territory or lose his army, neither of which Philip IV could afford, and he hurriedly wrote a letter to his daughter, hoping that she would Through mediation, Queen Teresa, although reluctant, still went to see the king who only returned to Paris.

At the request of the queen, Louis finally agreed to the request of Philip IV. He received the Spanish envoy, the Count of Fiontes, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, in front of the envoys of the countries, and the representative of the Count. Philip IV, admitted in public with difficulty - the Spanish ambassador will no longer compete with the French ambassador - that is to say, Philip IV admitted that Spain was under France, and this humiliation caused the Spanish people to suffer for a long time. time, but this humiliation will continue for many years as Louis XIV grows stronger and more glorious.

A special point to note here is that in Europa, the king of France is indeed higher than the kings of other countries, because the race and throne of France are indeed older and more orthodox than others. Except for the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, any king should Taking a place in front of the French king is just like the English king can only be in the same position as the French dauphin, while the British queen mother and the princess Henrietta must walk behind the French dame de Montpensier, It's just that no king of a country thinks so, and they're always fighting for equality before France.

  No, it should be said, not only the state, but also the Church of Rome.

   (end of this chapter)